Hamilton has better working relationship with Bottas

Lewis Hamilton believes that he has established a better working relationship with new Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas than with any of his previous four team-mates in F1 - even at this early stage of their partnership.

The duo took to the track for the first time together during the first pre-season test in Barcelona, with both drivers showing significant speed and topping the timesheets. It would seem that this has already convinced Hamilton their professional relationship is a strong one.

"I have learned that he makes his own entertainment," Hamilton revealed to F1's official website. "He is very witty and comes out with some very funny things - which you would not really expect from a Finn! (laughs).

"What I so far like about working with Valtteri is that it is all to do with the track - what we do on the circuit - and not outside. There are no games - there is complete transparency. I like that."

Hamilton is evidently keen to bring this rapport away from the tests and into the season ahead, which would likely prevent any of the same tension that has marked the last three years he raced alongside Nico Rosberg.

"I feel we already have a better working relationship than I ever had with any team-mate I had before," he continued. "He wants to do the best thing that he can in his first year with the team - and with me being here for quite a while now, I want to deliver and make sure that I give as much information so that he will learn. And we do our talking on the track!"

Hamilton's long rivalry with Rosberg ended at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November, at which the German claimed the world title - but not before Hamilton had tried to back him into the pack behind, in hope that he would lose the podium place needed to secure the championship. It was an incident that sparked controversy, particularly when Hamilton disobeyed team orders to speed up.

When asked how he dealt with this, Hamilton said: "That is an interesting one - unfortunately with no particularly interesting answer. It's just the way it is - you have to play the game. That last race was tough and I feel morally in my heart that I did what I needed to do - I never had the feeling that I stepped over the line.

"But then things are said and there was that feeling of negative energy towards me - but the team had won, so you had to be happy for the team. Yes, it definitely was tough, but you suck it up and you move forward. I try to be at the factory more often now and give them the feeling that yes, they have lost a driver, but they have another driver who cares."

Mason Hawker