Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff is confident the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will not deteriorate in the same way it did with former driver Nico Rosberg.
The Finn moved to within 10 points of Hamilton in the Drivers’ championship after scoring his first Formula 1 win at the Russian Grand Prix, this past weekend.
As the former Williams driver continues to establish himself at his new team, Wolff expects the battle between his two drivers to steadily intensify.
“I think we could have a ding-dong in terms of it going towards one and then the other,” The Austrian said.
.“The relationship between the two of them is very intact. Lewis was one of the first ones to congratulate Valtteri on his first race victory.
“I think that shows the respect they have towards each other. Nevertheless, both are fierce competitors and want to win races and fight for a championship but I don’t think it will affect the team and the dynamic like it did with Nico. That’s a completely different relationship.”
On the events in Sochi, which saw Hamilton struggle throughout the weekend before finishing fourth, Wolff added: “Lewis just had a really bad weekend and it wasn’t up to him. We just need to sort out the interaction between the car, the driver and tyres.”
Bottas also played down any possibility of tension with his team-mate after his success in Russia, though did admit that could change if stakes rose.
“He congratulated me. It’s very, very nice of him to be very professional about everything so far and he’s been in front of me now… he’s done a great job and I think vice versa,” he claimed after becoming the fifth Finn to win in F1.
“So I think we’re working well as a team but I’d say also we did today against the Ferrari drivers. It’s going to be a long year with a lot of fighting with all these cars.
“At some point things might get a bit more tricky on track – and if and when it comes to the championship fight, it might be less talking and more fighting on track.”