'He was a nuisance': Hamilton's hilarious reply when asked about his battle with Vettel

With the F1 championships already having been settled, the spotlight this weekend will undoubtedly be on four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who is set to take part in his last career race in Abu Dhabi. The German will go down as a legend of the sport, having won four titles and having driven for some of the best teams in the sport: Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.

Even though Vettel is set to retire after this weekend's Abu Dhabi GP, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is unwilling to bid him farewell just yet, as he believes that the German will return to the track sometime in the future just like Fernando Alonso did two years ago after a two-year hiatus.

Hamilton believes retiring Vettel will return to F1

On being asked what comes to his mind when he thinks about all the battles with Sebastian Vettel on track, Lewis Hamilton began by hilariously stating, "He was a bit of a nuisance back then." Vettel knew what moment Hamilton was referring to as he immediately responded, "I think Baku for me wasn't a great moment because what I did wasn't right." Hamilton agreed before Vettel went on to explain how their relationship actually improved from that point on.

"But actually, I think from that moment onwards our friendship got better! So I don't want that to be (the moment we remember)," added Vettel. Hamilton then came back to answer the question before stating that he does not believe that his battles with Vettel are over yet.

"I think we always had such great, great battles, honestly," added Hamilton. "And I was just sitting here thinking most drivers are coming back like he’s come back [pointing at Fernando Alonso next to him]. You’re probably going to come back [referring to Vettel]. We’re seeing other drivers coming back. So I’m sitting here kind of accepting, yes, it’s your last race, but he’ll be back. Formula 1 has a way of sucking you back in and we’ve noticed that from so many other drivers."

Vettel ended the interaction by cheekily adding, "We can make a deal. We’ll speak outside. When you want to get away maybe then I’d want to get back…"