Hamilton doesn't see himself as Mercedes team leader

Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he does not consider himself to be the 'leader' of Mercedes, instead believing himself to be a 'small link in a long chain' as the Silver Arrows come off a 2017 campaign in which the driver's and constructor's championship was claimed.

Hamilton was involved in a season-long feud with Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari for the championship this past season, and although Vettel led for a good portion of proceedings, the Brit rallied after the summer break and eventually emerged as champion with a few Grand Prix races to spare.

There is a decent relationship brewing between Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, which is in stark contrast to Hamilton and Nico Rosberg a couple of years ago, with the latter duo regularly clashing on and off the track.

Even though it was a hugely successful 2017, Hamilton does not consider himself as the Mercedes leader.

"I don't look at myself as the leader of the team – I believe I am a small link in a long chain," he told Autosport.

"We all play a key link. The key is making the link as strong as it can be and that's what we have managed to do."

The constant arguments with Rosberg before this campaign led to a tense atmosphere in the Mercedes ranks, particularly with Hamilton and chief Toto Wolff after Rosberg left, but the four-time world champion has insisted that he and his boss are now getting on famously after a few clear-the-air meetings.

"If you are at the office and your boss doesn't want you there it's going to be a shit environment, isn't it? You want to work there but you [also] don't," he continued.

"That's just negativity drawing away from what you're great at.

"That meeting was really important to reset things, so when I arrive and the guys know I'm going to be giving it everything, they work that extra bit harder, and vice versa.

"If there's any negativity or question, it can only hold us back, so it was almost a purification of the relationship, and a re-start of the solid foundation we had already built years ago."