Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda are sending conflicting messages about Mercedes' interest in the services of Sebastian Vettel.
While the German outfit's non-executive chairman said recently that the Ferrari driver was not part of their plans, the team's boss believes the prospect of Vettel racing a Silver Arrows "sounds good".
"2018 opens up alternatives that may be interesting but at the moment we do not waste time and will focus instead on bringing Bottas up to speed," Wolff told Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.
Asked if he was referring to German Vettel, Wolff answered: "I personally have a good relationship with him and he would fit into the team.
"However, Sebastian is someone who is absolutely loyal to his current employer. When Nico retired, he was not one of the interesting applicants for the seat," the Mercedes boss revealed.
"He only said 'Oh, this is surprising'. He is focusing on Ferrari with everything he has. What the future brings we will see, but it would be negligent to not have Sebastian on the list."
When told that 'German quadruple world champion Vettel driving a Mercedes' seems like a good fit, Wolff agreed: "Sounds good.
"But as good as it sounds, it matters little now. My favourite scenario is that it works out with Valtteri and Lewis," he said.
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