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Cape Town - Ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Webber believes Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel would have been team-mates if Bernie Ecclestone was still in charge.
Hamilton's future at Mercedes continues to be one of the major talking points in Formula 1 as contract discussions drag on between the pair.
Both sides remain relaxed about the situation as Hamilton's current deal continues to wind down.
But the longer the wait goes on for an official announcement about a contract renewal, more are discussing the prospect of Hamilton being team-mates with Vettel at Ferrari, given there could be a vacant seat for next year.
Webber, though, thinks the two four-time World Champions will be kept in separate teams yet, if Ecclestone was still running the show, it could well have been a different story.
"I think if Bernie was still here, he would have him at Ferrari with Sebastian. Bernie would make that deal happen," Webber told Express Sport.
"He would want those two guys together at Ferrari but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
"I think it will be the teams as we see them now apart from Daniel [Ricciardo] being the one that has a decision to make."
Webber also agreed with Christian Horner's comments that the delay between Hamilton and Mercedes was all down to the money being put on the table.
"It might be the truth, mightn’t it? It’s not rocket science," Webber added.
"The driver will generally want an uplift with each contract that he has but the boys are big and ugly, I’m sure they can work it out.
"They know what they need to do there and Christian is probably just stating the obvious that if Lewis gets happy, then he’ll sign.
"At the moment, they’re just working out the big detail, not the finer details, which is how much you’re going to get paid to do the job."
