Hamilton: Smart decision for Mercedes to keep Bottas

Lewis Hamilton has praised Mercedes for deciding to keep Valtteri Bottas as his Formula 1 teammate for the 2020 season, calling it "a smart decision."

Mercedes announced on Thursday that it had exercised its option in Bottas' contract to retain the Finn for next year, partnering him with five-time world champion Hamilton for a fourth straight season.

Bottas had been under pressure from Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon for the seat, only to receive confirmation that his deal had been extended over the summer break ahead of the announcement.

Hamilton and Bottas have enjoyed a cordial relationship across the garage throughout their time as teammates, prompting the Briton to offer a positive reaction to the call.

"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," Hamilton said.

"I think this is going to be the fourth year. We have a great working relationship, Valtteri and I. He's constantly improving.

"I think 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."

Asked why his working relationship with Bottas had been so good, Hamilton joked: "He makes me look good because he looks older than me, even though he's younger than me, so that's always a good thing!

"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 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."