Lewis Hamilton has praised Mercedes for deciding to keep Valtteri Bottas as his Formula 1 teammate f🅷or the 2020 season, calling i꧒t "a smart decision."

Mercedes announced on Thursday that it had ex🏅ercised its optꦆion 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 juniorꦕ 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 ga༺rage 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෴𒁃 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 an♕d I. He's constant♚ly improving.

"I think it was a smart decision from tꦺhe 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 be🅷cause 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 rea🌼lly 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 organ🍃isation, 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 upliftin🦂g.

"Also self-ꦓcriticising - 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 t𓆏o 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 greatꦦ, 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."