Wolff: Hamilton and Bottas can race clean

Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will be able to fight each other for the title cleanly because they have a different relationship than Hamilton had with Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton and Rosberg's relationship became increasingly strained as Mercedes teammates, with the pair colliding on a number of occasions as the only realistic championship contenders for three consecutive seasons. With Bottas replacing 2016 world champion Rosberg, the Finn made his mark with his first victory in Russia and Wolff believes there can be a less controversial fight between the current Mercedes drivers this year.

"I think we could have a ding-dong in terms of it going towards one and then the other," Wolff said. "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 tires.

"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."

Hamilton was unable to challenge Bottas or the Ferraris in Sunday's Russian Grand Prix as he struggled with overheating, but Wolff believes a combination of factors added up to the difference between the two Mercedes drivers.

"I think there was more wrong than just one topic. In his debrief he felt that he couldn't make the car and the tires function. We know it is very difficult to keep the tires in the right window and it's something we need to work on because the Ferrari seems to struggle less – the window is probably larger.

"[Lewis] was never in that window. Whether it was a tire specific issue or setup we need to find out. But if one thing is for sure, if there's someone who knows his way around Sochi it is Lewis."

Hamilton dropped 13 points behind Vettel in the drivers' championship following the result in Russia, with Bottas only 10 points behind his team-mate in third place.