Lewis Hamilton wants Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc to bring the best out of each other.
Tension remains high between Vettel and team-mate Leclerc and the duo were at loggerheads at the Russian Grand Prix last weekend.
Vettel started third but took an early lead at the Sochi Autodrom, however, he defied team orders to let team-mate Leclerc past.
Leclerc said that he feels he is closer to Hamilton than Vettel.
When asked if a Ferrari driver feud will help Mercedes, Hamilton said: “
No because I don’t think we need help. That’s not the way that I look at things. We want them to be at their best so we can challenge them at their best and ultimately if we can beat them at their best then it just makes it feel better.
“It’s interesting, people’s interpretations of what is and what isn’t happening there. I’m not watching it close enough to see. I think there’s been a lot of noise made over the last race but I saw Sebastian [Vettel] after the race and he looked like he was in a harmonious position. But from the outside, it looks a certain way.
“I think they are a formidable force and are doing an incredible job at the moment and they are going to be very hard to beat at the remaining races. They’ve obviously clicked with this package and it will be interesting to see how that unfolds into next year’s car because again, it’s an evolution of this year’s car. I think hopefully we will have an even closer season next year. But these next five races, it will be interesting to see how that relationship evolves.”