Hamilton vows there will be no more giving way to Bottas

Lewis Hamilton has warned Va lt teri Bot t as he will not hand him any more free passes.

Hamilton admitted to giving his Mercedes teammate an easy ride following their first-lap tussle at the previous round in Azerbaijan. Bottas went on to take the chequered flag, claiming his second victor y of the season, and moving one point ahead of Hamilton in the standings.

With Ferrari stuttering this year – Sebastian Vettel is already 35 points behind – Bottas could prove Hamilton’s closest challenger for a sixth world crown.

So, will the Brit change his courteous approach?

“We are not going to be touching, but in terms of giving up positions, that won’ t happen again ,” replied the 34- year-old ahead of this weekend’ s Spanish Grand Prix. “I will always be respectful, but we will see.”

Hamilton’s relationship with former team-mate Ni coRos berg became untenable after three years of fighting for the title. Naturally, Mercedes are keen to avoid a repeat scenario.

Hamilton added :“It is going to be tight between Valtteri and I. Tensions will be there, because that is always the case when you want to beat someone else. We want to win the championship individually.

“But what we are paid to do is win and deliver for Mercedes, and as long as we remember that, we won’t have any problems.”

Hamilton, however, is still likely to view Vettel as his chief title protagonist.

The Ferrari cars dominated pre -season testing and the German insists they must return to those heights to stop Mercedes galloping into the distance.

The four-time world champion will be boosted by an updated Ferrari engine, brought for ward from its original release date of the race in Canada next month.

“We need to start scoring points, the sooner the better,” said Vettel, who has not won since last August’s Belgian Grand Prix – a run of 12 races. “The longer it goes on, the worse it looks. Everyone is fired up, and we are willing to fight.”