Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton said he shares a âgreat pairingâ with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old launches the latest defence of his title on the streets of Albert Park in Melbourne and is paired up with the Finn for the third-straight season in 2019.
Bottas had a torrid 2018 campaign, failing to win a race and finishing fifth in the standings, but Mercedes opted to stick with the 29-year-old.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Hamilton said: âOn the driving front, continuity is what works.
âWe have a great pairing and the contribution Valtteri and I put together works, itâs worked well for years and thereâs no reason to change it.
âIf it ainât broke, donât fix it.â
The former Sports Personality of the Year added: âIn terms of the team, weâve got so many incredible people within the team and the energy is reallyâŠitâs inspiring to see so many people so pumped, pulling together.
âJust after the test, I went back and Toto (Wolff, team principal) rallied the troops and we all sat together and it was really impressive to see so many people so passionate about their jobs and so passionate about racing.
âTheyâre the soldiers, theyâre the real true fighters for the team and theyâre giving absolutely everything to make sure we progress.â
Sebastian Vettel kept Ferrari on top on the final day of 2019 pre-season testing in Barcelona, and Hamilton said the results from Spain were clear.
âI donât think itâs difficult to read it, it was quite clear,â Hamilton said. âHowever itâs difficult to know what everyoneâs doing.
âNaturally we wonât fully know until we get out in the car tomorrow. Come qualifying you get a better picture.
âUsually over the first few races is where you really start to get an idea of where everyone stands. We said that we have work to do. We werenât talking BS, we have work to do.â
Hamilton and Vettel will resume their rivalry, with the German looking for a third-straight victory Down Under on Sunday.
He admitted luck with the safety cars helped in 2018, saying: âWe canât do better than last yearâs result, so itâs a tough weekend ahead of us.
Home favourite: Daniel Ricciardo.
âAlways at the start youâre a bit nervous, you donât exactly know where you are, you donât know whatâs going to happen but the spirit is good, the atmosphere is good, weâre happy to be here and start racing.â
The majority of the crowd will be backing Daniel Ricciardo in his new Renault over the weekend as he looks to end a 39-year drought since an Australian won a race on home turf.
He said: âI might need some help from some others this early in the season. Theyâre already kind of crazy, Australians, but if we could pull that off then lock your doors.â