The McLaren driver believes he is a "great teammate" because they can still get along well and "have laughs" while knowing they view each other as their "biggest competitor".

He told BBC Sport: "I think it's because I'm a great team-mate.

"That's not saying anything in the wrong way. Even though your team-mate's always your biggest competitor, and the guy you want to beat and need to beat more than anyone, I've always wanted to have a good time, and have laughs and make jokes, and enjoy my life.

"That's what I'm here to do at the end of the day, enjoy my life. And we want to do that together.

"We are different people, different characters, but both guys who know deep down we want to beat each other. But we also want to enjoy our journey."

The 25-year-old driver and his teammate are determined to put McLaren first in order to retain their own relationship.

He said: "I'm employed by the team, and I have to drive and race for them. As a number one, it is a constructor. That's what we have to win in the end of the season. But then there's the individual championship.

"Everyone's seen plenty of championships as team-mates turn sour and go in the wrong direction. And that normally leads to many things, like a domino effect of things starting to fail. And that's what we don't want.

"We know we still want to race. We're free to race against each other as individuals, but we also know our sole purpose is to race for McLaren, the team, the name we race under. And that's something we're both very proud of doing."

Lando believes there are "pros and cons" to sharing the same car type as his main rival.

He said: "The thing that makes it good is also the the thing that makes it bad. Which is that you can see everything the other one is doing. You can learn from each other very easily.

"But the positive is, as a team, that brings us to performing at a very, very high level, and that's only a benefit for the team."