F1 title rivals Hamilton and Rosberg say their relationship is fine

The relationship between Rosberg and Hamilton has been problematic since the early stages of the 2014 F1 campaign.

Tensions boiled over during May's Monaco Grand Prix, when Hamilton felt Rosberg had deliberately run down an escape road to cause a yellow flag and deny him a shot pole, while Mercedes disciplined Rosberg following contact between the pair on the second lap of August's Belgian GP.

Former world champion Alain Prost told AUTOSPORT that Mercedes made a mistake in its handling of the Spa fallout, and could have destabilised its team, but both drivers reckon the atmosphere inside the squad has mellowed.

"The atmosphere in the team is very good - I'm happy about that because we have a great feeling at the moment," said Rosberg, when asked by AUTOSPORT how things were inside the team.

"Yes we've had difficulties - there's been several difficulties through the year - and I think that's natural. We're fighting for race wins every single weekend.

"But we discuss and then we move on and I think we've been able to do that very well this year.

"At the moment it's a period where we're pushing all together in the same direction.

"Of course it's intense internally, definitely, and will remain that way, but it's being managed and it works well at the moment."

Hamilton, who overtook his team-mate in the title race for the first time since round five in Spain with back-to-back victories in the Italian and Singapore GPs, added: "It seems to be nice and relaxed - nothing really different to be honest.

"We went into Spa with the same kind of atmosphere and of course it was difficult after Spa, but things feel like they're back to normal."