Lewis Hamilton says he “wouldn't be doing many favours” to Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Valtteri Bottas if he was to hand the Finn a grand prix win in return for Sochi.

Bottas was consigned to a support role for Hamilton in the 2018 title race run-in, and was ordered to let the Briton through when he was on course for a first win of the season in the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton has since wrapped up his fifth drivers' title, which means Bottas is now free once more to challenge his teammate in the two remaining races of the campaign.

However, the champion has insisted that there is no Mercedes plan in place to ensure Bottas gets his win back.

“The team are not going to make that call,” Hamilton said ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. “If I'm in the position - it's not something I've asked Valtteri, if he'd want that, but I don't think he's going to want that. He's going to want to win in his own way.

“So I don't know if I'd be doing him many favours in the sense of giving him a win, I don't think he needs that anyways, I think he can do it himself.

“All I can do is try to make sure I'm supportive throughout the process, throughout the weekend. I'm always really open with my set-up, so I'll continue to be so.”

When asked about Hamilton's stance by Motorsport.com, Bottas reiterated that he was indeed not interested in being gifted a win.

“I definitely wouldn't want to win by being given [it]. I want to win by winning the race myself.”

Earlier this season, team boss Toto Wolff reckoned Bottas' number-two driver role had been a “mental setback” for the Finn.

Bottas himself has now admitted that heading into the Interlagos race with no team orders on the horizon was “definitely” a boost to his spirits.

“Coming here, knowing that for me there is a possibility to win the race, that's obviously a good feeling,” he said.

“I guess you all know what my goal will be for this weekend - but that's going to be up to me and I need to perform to be able to fight for the win.”

An increased reliance on tyre management, plus an ever-widening gulf between the top three teams and the rest of the field, has prompted drivers to get together and work out if they need to step in to try to improve things.

Daniel Ricciardo said that while the latest tyres allowed drivers to push harder in certain circumstances, the need to look after rubber to minimise pitstops meant that there was still something lacking from a driving perspective.

That is why the subject of tyres has been added to the agenda of Friday's GPDA get-together, which will take place after the official drivers' briefing.

"I don't think anyone ever seems to be satisfied," said Ricciardo about the tyre situation. "They wanted a tyre we can race harder on for longer, and I feel now we're nearly getting that.

"But I don't know how to have a tyre that we can push hard on but is going to degrade, so we can still do a two or three-stop. I feel we're just going to drive slower, like we're doing now."

Although the issue of tyres – and whether degradation and management has got too much – has been singled out as a key point for the GPDA discussions, Romain Grosjean says that wider F1 issues have set some alarm bells ringing.

"It's not only tyres," said Grosjean, who is a director of the GPDA. "I feel, and I don't want to speak for everyone else, but I feel like we need to give our feedback and maybe try to do a bit more because the races aren't fun.

"P6 in Mexico is two laps down? How do you hope to see a midfield car on the podium if they are one or two laps down?

"The delta between the big teams and the small teams is too big. Plus the tyres being so complicated to understand, to drive, if you don't have the downforce you destroy them and you open the gap again."

Grosjean said the idea of the GPDA discussion was to gauge the feelings from all drivers.

If there was a consensus about what needs to be done, then that could be formalised and put to fans, the media and F1's rule makers to try to make the sport better.

"If we get to somewhere where everyone is happy with what we have discussed, and we have got bullet points, then we should move them forward to you guys, to Liberty or whoever. [It's important] we don't sit back and don't do anything for the sport we love."

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly thinks the current frustrations with tyres showed that the drivers needed to speak up more if there was any hope of making the racing better.

"There are many things we can improve but there's clearly one aspect that could improve racing: if we had more robust tyres that are less sensitive to overheating," he said. "It will give us the opportunity to follow other cars for longer.

"At the moment you do three corners really close from another car and you start sliding and three degrees of temperature on tyres and start to lose performance. It's a snowball effect, the temperatures keep increasing and you're done.

"It's something Pirelli should focus on. We told them already, they need to respect what FOM asks them so it's a topic we discussed many times. Probably as drivers we need to be stronger in our opinion, our view and desire of what we need for the future."

Kubica has Williams F1 seat offer for 2019

Daniel Ricciardo understands why Sebastian Vettel was frustrated when called into the weighbridge during Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying, and believes the FIA should make a rule tweak.

Vettel was stopped by the FIA for a weight check early in Q2 after competing only an out-lap after Ferrari decided to switch from supersoft to soft tyres.

With rain threatening, Vettel showed his obvious frustration by knocking over a marker come, initially not switching off his engine, and driving off the scales under his own power, which broke them.

After a hearing, he was given a reprimand and fined 25,000 euros for failing to obey the instructions of officials.

Ricciardo says that drivers shouldn't be called into the weighbridge when they haven't yet set a banker time, and suggests that the matter could be discussed at the next drivers’ briefing at the next race.

“If I was in his position, I'd be frustrated as well,” said Ricciardo when asked about Vettel by Motorsport.com.

“Because rain's coming, he hasn't set a lap yet, I guess in simple terms, they're just postponing his qualifying and putting him at risk.

“I think we're going to talk about it probably in Abu Dhabi now, but we might have to try and add something in - like you can only be called if you've set a lap.

"I think calling you to the bridge before you've set a lap, they're kind of controlling your qualifying session, which I think is a bit unfair. So from that point of view I will, let's say, sympathise with Seb.”

Asked about the normal procedure, he said: “Well, you've got to switch your car off, then the mechanics have to come, start it up.

"You lose, I couldn't put a time on it - call it a minute or something. But, again, if the weather's like that, it's not ideal.

“They called me in in Suzuka, when I had my problem, I hadn't set a time, I've literally come out and come in and they've called me in, and I was a bit like, 'guys, why do you need me, I've done nothing.’

"But then they saw I'd had problems and let me go. But I kinda feel we need to set a lap before they call us on.”

FIA Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting says Esteban Ocon was not wrong to try to unlap himself in the Brazilian Grand Prix but fighting Max Verstappen was "wholly unacceptable".

Verstappen was taken out of the lead of the race after Ocon, recently out of the pits on fresh supersoft tyres, attacked him around the outside into Turn 1 and then tried to pass him on the inside of Turn 2.

Ocon was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty for causing a collision, but was backed after the race by his team, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton, who inherited the win as Verstappen dropped to second.

Whiting said Ocon was "absolutely allowed to unlap himself" but explained that it was the manner in which he attempted to pass Verstappen – who would have been vulnerable to DRS into Turn 4 had Ocon waited a little longer – that was the problem.

"It's happened many times in the past," said Whiting of whether lapped drivers can pass frontrunners. "But of course you expect it to be done safely.

"More to the point, it should be done cleanly and absolutely without fighting. You shouldn't be fighting to get past.

"If he's got the pace then normally one would expect Red Bull to say 'Ocon has got the pace, let him through' or that sort of thing.

"But it seemed he just went for it. It was just a bit unfortunate that he decided to fight for it, which was wholly unacceptable."

It was the first major incident between a backmarker and the race leader since the 2001 Brazilian GP, which ironically involved Verstappen's father Jos wiping out race leader Juan Pablo Montoya.

However, Whiting stressed: "I don't think it makes any difference it was the leader.

"It makes it worse in a lot of people's eyes but as far as the stewards are concerned, that doesn't matter."

Verstappen's role in the clash was criticised as some believe he should not have turned in to the apex of Turn 2 when he had gone side-by-side with Ocon into Turn 1.

Hamilton said immediately post-race he would have handled it differently to Verstappen and reiterated later that the Red Bull driver should have left more space given Ocon had "nothing to lose".

"I thought that it was fair game for him to try to unlap himself," said Hamilton when asked by Motorsport.com if he still maintained his position.

"Of course you don't want to cause an incident, but in those scenarios you give each other space, it's so simple to give each other space.

"You can never assume that the person's not up your inside, because he's a backmarker and he's going to back off.

"You've got to acknowledge the fact that he may be there – 'I'm going to leave extra space, because actually he's in a different race to me'."

Sauber has launched the Sauber Junior Team in order to develop drivers in Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula 4 from 2019 onward.

The Swiss outfit has partnered with Charouz Racing System to run Sauber Junior Team drivers in all three categories next year in order to offer a clear path to Formula 1. Racing in the new Formula 3 that will support F1 races, the team will also race in ADAC Formula 4 and Italian Formula 4. Headquartered at Charouz Racing System’s base in the Czech Republic, all cars will sport an identical livery while racing under the Sauber Junior Team name.

Displaced Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica is reportedly just a signature away from a full-time F1 drive after an eight-year absence from the sport. If rumors turn out to be correct, the Polish driver could get behind the wheel of an F1 car in 2019.

Kubica last raced in Formula 1 in 2010 before enduring a rally crash in 2011 that almost cost him his right hand, ultimately sidelining his F1 career. After more than a year on the hunt for a race seat, Kubica's comeback could be nearing completion according to Auto Motor und Sport, which reports that Kubica is "90 percent" certain to sign with the team this week. The only reported obstacles are niceties such as how many Friday practice sessions he gives up to the team's test driver, who could be Russia's Nikita Mazepin.

"I think we are quite close to the decision," Kubica confirmed to Motorsport. "From my point of view I'm getting there, and I have a deadline very soon, in my head let's say. It will be within a few days, what I decide, what I want to do, and what I think is the best direction for me."

"I'm in a comfortable situation, and this is what I've been saying for a few weeks. I will be doing something which in one way or another attracts me, and gives me the confidence that I will be doing something that I enjoy."

If Kubica signs, he will partner Mercedes junior and Formula 2 champion George Russell. Williams could then reportedly hire Esteban Ocon for the role of reserve driver, which he could fulfill for all three Mercedes-powered teams.

Another option reported to be on the table is an opportunity with Scuderia Ferrari, where Kubica could join Pascal Wehrlein as simulator drivers for the Maranello-based team according to Motorsport Italy. Both of Ferrari's sim staff—Daniil Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi—will be racing in F1 full-time next year, with Scuderia Toro Rosso and Alfa Romeo Sauber respectively.

"I said always when you are a small child you dream about F1, then you once you are established as an F1 driver there are two things, either you win championships, or you drive in the red car," Kubica said of Ferrari in his interview with Motorsport. "I was quite close to doing it, it didn't work [out]."

"I cannot look behind, I have to look forward. It could be very interesting, but I have to see more about working with a top team on a high level. It would be a good opportunity from a professional point of view, but also from an emotional point of view it can be something interesting."