Mercedes driver George Russell says his relationship with teammate and Formula One title rival Kimi Antonelli remains strong despite the Italian outperforming him during the current season.
Antonelli, 20, is on course to become Formula One's youngest world champion and Italy's first champion since 1953. He needs to finish ninth or higher at Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix to secure the title.
Russell, 28, who was considered a pre-season title favourite, is now fighting for second place in the drivers' championship.
The pair have managed to maintain a positive relationship despite competing for the championship, avoiding the on-track clashes that have often fuelled bitter rivalries between teammates in Formula One.
Russell says their relationship has remained unaffected because there have been few incidents between them on the track.
He described Antonelli as a great person with plenty of energy, adding that the Italian's stronger performances had meant they had not often found themselves competing directly against each other.
Russell also pointed to the individual working relationships they maintain with their respective engineering teams to get the best out of their cars.
The British driver is currently 123 points behind Antonelli in the championship standings ahead of the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
He is also just one point ahead of former Mercedes teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who now drives for Ferrari.
Russell will also miss Friday's opening free practice session after giving up his seat to Mercedes reserve and test driver Frederik Vesti.
This could give Antonelli an early advantage, provided the Italian recovers from a virus in time to participate.
Meanwhile, Russell admits that finishing second in the championship would offer little satisfaction, saying winning the title is the ultimate goal for every driver.
He says his priority is to finish the season strongly, win as many races as possible and build positive momentum rather than focus solely on his final position in the standings.