Lewis Hamilton will stick with Mercedes for the rest of his Formula 1 career despite the team's struggles, according to one of the Brit's former team-mates.
The Brit has made no secret of his desire to finally win that eighth world title to move beyond Michael Schumacher in the all-time rankings. He has even suggested in recent times that he won't retire from F1 until he has become champion one more time.
But he was a long way off the championship fight last year as Mercedes made a mess of their car development and spent the season playing catch-up. Hamilton will have hoped to be back battling at the front again with this team, but again it looks like the Silver Arrows will not play a major role in the title race.
It has led to plenty of speculation that the seven-time champion could be tempted if another team came calling which offers him a better chance of beating Red Bull. He has been linked with Ferrari in recent times, while there have also been some Aston Martin suggestions since their emergence as a front-runner in the first race of this season.
But Heikki Kovalainen does not see any of that happening. In an exclusive interview with Mirror Sport, the Finn – who spent two seasons as Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren and has been his friend ever since – explained why he thinks Hamilton is going to stay where he is.
"Personally, I don't see that coming – to me, he's committed to Mercedes," Kovalainen said when asked for his reaction to speculation that Hamilton could leave. He went on to justify that by expressing his belief that Hamilton may feel his still has something to prove in F1.
The Finn added: "I met him in Hungary last year and we had a good chat there. Without going into detail of what was said in a private conversation, the body language and the feel I got from him, I just felt that this is something that he wants to turn around.
"He wants to turn things around for Mercedes and that’s going to tick another box on his resume – to show that it's not that he's only been driving good cars and making the most of the good cars, but that he can actually turn a struggling team around and lead that team.
"That's the reason why I'm thinking he's not going to change. I feel he wants to turn this thing around with Mercedes and then he can show the world that he can turn a struggling team into a winning team again. It's going to be exciting to watch and I one hundred per cent believe he has the skill and the will.
"If anyone, he can probably do it."
