Mercedes recently appointed Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton's new teammate following the retirement of Nico Rosberg, and the German manufacturer will be hope they can form a strong partnership, unlike how it was between Hamilton and Rosberg, last season.
Also read: Formula One 2017 complete schedule
Despite Hamilton and Rosberg being teammates in their karting days, they had a lot of issues as teammates last season, which created a lot of tension within the team. However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Lewis Hamilton was glad to have Bottas on board, saying he is one of the guys he actually got along with in F1.
"We had a [talk] with Lewis before Christmas...and he said he thought Valtteri was a nice guy, one of the guys he actually got along with well in Formula 1 and that he felt he was a good option".
"I think that works well," he added. "It was OK already between Nico and Lewis but there was the luggage of the past...[now] it is a completely new relationship and there is no animosity from the past".
"There will be moments where it is going to be difficult but I think that how the personalities are for the team it's going to be a good situation and one that is maybe a bit easier to handle than the past. But I could be wrong" Supersport.com quoted the Mercedes boss as saying.
Despite the finer print of Valtteri Bottas contract not being made public, it is understood that he has signed just a one-year contract with Mercedes with an option to extend it next year.
Wolff said that the reason for offering him a one-year contract was because there were a lot of top drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso whose contracts were up for renewal at the end of the 2017 season, and Mercedes wanted to keep their options open for the future.
"We wouldn't have chosen Valtteri if we thought that he was not good enough to continue with the team. But, as a matter of fact, the market is very dynamic at the moment. Next year options open - young drivers, Sebastian, Fernando, Valtteri, many of them. So it is about understanding that - and Valtteri does. Equally we have great faith and confidence in him that he can stay with us for a long time, but now we need to see how the season goes" Toto Wolff was quoted as saying.
