SILVERSTONE -- Lewis Hamilton is following Mercedes' pursuit of Max Verstappen with interest and said he would fully recommend the move to his former rival.
Last week, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed he was exploring the possibility of signing Verstappen in the future, leading to speculation the four-time champion could leave Red Bull for Mercedes in either 2026 or 2027.
Hamilton, who switched from Mercedes to Ferrari over the winter, said he would wholeheartedly recommend driving for Mercedes if Verstappen asked for his opinion.
"Of course," he told reporters ahead of the British Grand Prix. "If someone, anyone, was going to ask me about Mercedes, it's an amazing team also with the passion, they've got great personnel, it's a great factory, great environment to work in.
"I'll be interested to see what happens."
Hamilton also praised Verstappen's current team Red Bull and said he regretted once talking down his former rivals.
"I mean, he's coming from a great team and I think many, many years ago I was asked [about Red Bull], I think I was just so diehard Mercedes at the time, and I remember saying something about Red Bull being only a drinks company.
"I always regretted it because I was just saying that because Mercedes at the time was just great. I was really just trying to gee up my team, but the truth is Red Bull have been an incredible team.
"There's so many people there that are exceptional and they've dominated for years."
Hamilton heads into his home race at Silverstone with an unprecedented run of 12 consecutive podium finishes at the British circuit.
Since joining Ferrari at the start of the year, Hamilton has not scored a podium for 11 races but he is hoping his home race will break that run.
"I'm hoping and praying, yes," he added. "There's always magic here in Silverstone, so I don't really have to hope for that in the sense that the crowd is incredible.
"It's a very, very, very special place. And it always provides a special race, one way or the other. So, but I'm hoping that whether all sorts of things can help us, because we're obviously naturally not as strong as we used to be."