Lewis Hamilton expects to maintain a good relationship with Sebastian Vettel this season and hopes the title will be decided by driving talent and mental fortitude rather than reliability issues.
Hamilton and Vettel have won one race each so far this season and are tied on points at the top of the drivers' championship. Ferrari and Mercedes appear to have closely matched cars, throwing up the tantilising prospect of a two-team battle for the championship after three years of Mercedes dominance.
Hamilton and Vettel have both talked about their enthusiasm for a straight title fight this year and both have openly congratulated one another when finishing second. As the season wears on tensions could rise between the two multiple world champions, but Hamilton is convinced the rivalry will not turn sour.
"I honestly think it will stay the way it is," he said after securing victory in China on Sunday. "Of course we'll be in that scenario where one of us thinks something is unfair, being too aggressive, whatever it may be. But I honestly think we've come a long old way, we've experienced a lot and we respect one another.
"There's amazing sportsmanship you know, he enjoys it and also acknowledges the person next door, and we'll do the same thing. I think that's a great synergy to have. Naturally he wants to beat me, and vice-versa. He's performing at his best, he's rapid out there. When I'm able to get ahead, it only compliments you, and vice-versa."
At the last two races strategy has been the defining factor in the battle for victory between Hamilton and Vettel, with the two yet to go wheel-to-wheel in a battle for the lead. But Hamilton is convinced there will be on track battles this year and he hopes driver skill decides the championship rather than reliability issues.
"Right now, we're fighting up against a four-time world champion. He is at his best and he is phenomenally quick. Ferrari are at their best in years. So we're at our best as a team, and I feel like I'm at my best. The ultimate fighter always wants to go up against the best battle he can have because then when you come out on top, it's so much more satisfying.
"I love this fight. It's going to go right down to the end of the season, and I hope for both of us there's nothing mechanical comes between our sheer battle in ability. I really, really hope it's just an out and out fight through stubborness, through mental stability, through composure and all those things. And at times through just outdriving the person on-track.
"That's from the driver side, winning the championship, that's the ultimate challenge. When other things start playing bigger roles, whether it's safety car or car mechanical things, that takes away the excitement of racing."