Lewis Hamilton was pleased by Mercedes' decision to retain Valtteri Bottas for 2020.
On Thursday, ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, two key seats on next year's grid were filled as, after the Finn was confirmed, Renault announced Esteban Ocon would be returning alongside Daniel Ricciardo.
The call came after an uncertain summer for Bottas, who struggled in the races prior to the four-week break, but Hamilton, who had a say in Mercedes' decision, believes his retention was the right outcome.
"I think continuity is always a great thing. I think we have a great environment that we work in and we've created over time," the five-time champion said via Crash.net.
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"I think this is going to be the fourth year [together]. We have a great working relationship, Valtteri and I and he's constantly improving.
"It was a smart decision from the team, to be honest, and I really look forward to working with him. I really enjoy working with him in general. We get on well both outside and on the track."
One reason why Hamilton is likely happy to keep Bottas is that it avoids the scenario seen at Ferrari this season, where Sebastian Vettel has seen his authority challenged by a youngster in Charles Leclerc.
Also, it's a move which keeps the peace at Mercedes, as the Briton highlighted the relationship between the pair.
"Honestly, it's really just the rapport. We've always had respect between us and that's not really very common, particularly when it's so competitive," he claimed.
"He wakes up and wants to beat me. I wake up and I naturally want to beat him, but we shake each other's hands as men.
"The energy is just really, really nice within the organisation, when we're in the office, we're in the car and we try to do the best job we can. We don't come back and bring any negativity and bring down individuals within the team. It's always quite uplifting.
"Also self-criticising - I think he's very self-critical, and I'm very much the same, and that's a really great quality to have in an athlete because a lot of the time the first person to point the finger at is yourself, and that's what we do.
"We share a lot in common in that respect. He's a formidable force, a great, great driver, and he's continuing to improve. He's four years behind me, so he's going to continue to get better, so I'm glad we've got another year together."
