Mercedes boss Toto Wolff will "never" let the Lewis Hamilton and George Russell partnership "degenerate into a conflict".
The Austrian believes the two drivers have been "on a par" with each other since the latter joined from Williams at the beginning of last year.
In fact, Russell became only the third driver to outscore the seven-time world champion over a full season in 2022, and 2023 has started with the 25-year-old looking to be assertive in a push to be the lead driver at Mercedes.
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That has already led to a little back and forth with Hamilton over setup after Jeddah, but Wolff insists there won't be a repeat of the 2016 tensions between Lewis and then-teammate Nico Rosberg.
“A good dynamic between the drivers also depends on what the management sets them,” he said via Auto Motor und Sport.
“I think we are in a good starting position because both drivers respect each other. Respect each other humanly.
“We accept that there can be a rivalry between our drivers. But this rivalry must never degenerate into a conflict that could damage the team.
"I would never allow that. I have never allowed that either.”
Currently, Mercedes is trying to find a pathway back to regularly challenging for victories again after Red Bull took a step forward with their 2023 car.
And while ever that remains the case, Russell sees no reason for his current relationship with Hamilton to change.
“I mean naturally if you are fighting for one-two's there will be a slightly different dynamic and that’s only natural,” he said.
“But I think the thing we have going for us is the fact that we are at very different stages of our careers and it kind of feels like we are in this together, really.
“We’ve got no reason to have conflict. We have got a good relationship and we need to give each other respect."
