Lewis Hamilton admits there is no guarantee his relationship with Valtteri Bottas will remain friendly this season.
The prospect of a head-to-head championship duel between the Mercedes duo is growing after four consecutive 1-2 finishes to start 2019.
However, while there has been a respectful partnership built up between Bottas and Hamilton since 2017, fears of a 2016-style deterioration have already been raised.
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen further in the year,” the world champion was quoted bu PlanetF1. “I can’t judge if one’s character will change or not.
“Drivers in the past didn’t stick to the rules of engagement that we have as a team, and Valtteri does.”
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Currently, there is a one-point gap between the two drivers in Bottas’ favour with a 34-point gap back to Sebastian Vettel in third.
Even so, Hamilton doesn’t think he needs to worry too much about his teammate for now because threats still exist elsewhere.
“It’s far too early to say that one person is the title rival,” he said. “Ferrari had good pace in practice and in qualifying in Baku.
“I think if both cars delivered as we delivered, and their drivers delivered as we delivered, I think it would have been a lot closer but we still have to stay on our toes.
“We didn’t bring an upgrade this weekend and Ferrari did, so it’s a little bit of a surprise performance-wise because at some stage we will bring an upgrade too.”
