Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes needs 'disruption' among its drivers to extract the maximum performance levels, despite a trouble free year within the team bringing more success.
Lewis Hamilton was paired with Valtteri Bottas for the first time in 2017 and it saw the Brit win his fourth drivers' championship while the Silver Arrows collected the constructors' trophy for the fourth year running.
Hamilton and Bottas were on good terms throughout the campaign, a stark contrast from between 2014 and 2016 when Hamilton endured a bitter rivalry with team-mate Nico Rosberg who retired after winning the 2016 title.
Lewis Hamilton (left) enjoys a good relationship with Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas as the duo stand on the podium following the Finn's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victory
Toto Wolff admits his team may need an inter-team rivalry to extract maximum performance
But with Bottas having played a back seat role for much of the season, Wolff has opened the door for the Finn to take the fight to Hamilton next term for the championship.
'I don't think we need to avoid a stressful situation,' Wolff told motorsport.com.
'We need to acknowledge that, if two team-mates can fight for race wins and a championship, that this will be a rivalry.
'We are not trying to build a new family here, we want to be the most effective racing team, and an effective racing team needs stress, needs tension, needs disruption as much as it needs calmness and a positive attitude and mindset.
Hamilton won his fourth Formula One world championship at the Mexican Grand Prix
Hamilton was previously involved in a bitter feud with former team-mate Nico Rosberg, who won the 2016 world championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi
F1 FINAL STANDINGS 2017 - TOP SIX DRIVER TEAM WINS POINTS 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 9 363 2. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 5 317 3. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 3 305 4. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 0 205 5. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1 200 6. Max Verstappen Red Bull 2 168
'But like everywhere in life you want to have the mix of both, probably the recipe for success.'
Bottas had finished third in the drivers' standings, as Mercedes for the first time in the hybrid-turbo era found opposition outside the team for the championship in the form of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari.
Hamilton though saw off the challenge from the German, taking the title with two race to spare at the Mexican Grand Prix.