Hamilton: Only difference with Valtteri is the beard

Bottas dominated the season-opener in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, spawning headlines that he was a "new man, reloaded" keen to shed the "perfect wingman" nickname attributed to him by his boss Toto Wolff.

But Hamilton sees little difference other than the facial hair!

He told reporters in Bahrain, "I work with the guy. He’s the same guy he was last year, so no difference for me - except he has a beard!"

"Time will tell I guess. I never thought he was a weak person anyway. I’ve always seen him as a strong character."

"It doesn’t really change a single thing. Last year, he was very strong. It was a good second year for him. He was very unfortunate in many races, and it’s just a continuation on from that."

"There’s only been one race. It was a great race for him, and I look forward to seeing many more good races from him," added Hamilton who will be looking for a third win at the island kingdom venue.