Niki Lauda says he has been impressed with how Valtteri Bottas is getting up to speed at Mercedes.
Recently, comments attributed to the Mercedes team chairman indicated the Finn is struggling to match the pace set by his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
But Lauda told the Austrian broadcaster ORF that he is in fact happy with Nico Rosberg’s successor.
"My first impression is very good," said the F1 legend.
"He is a Finn so he doesn’t talk much, but he works hard to get used to the team. I’m impressed how quickly he could get used to the car," Lauda added.
And so far, there is no sign of the kind of tension that characterised the relationship between Hamilton and the now-departed Rosberg.
"Now, at the beginning, everything is simple," said Lauda. "Lewis has everything in his hands and Bottas is getting used to the team.
"Now we wait for the first races to see how they get along, what the gaps are and how everything develops. We don’t know this yet," he admitted.