Bottas only joined Mercedes at the beginning of the year, hurriedly recruited from Williams to replace shock retiree Nico Rosberg.
The German, who finally won his maiden world title last year after three seasons battling with Hamilton, had seen his childhood friendship with the Brit sour as they competed on and off the track.
But Bottas says he and Hamilton have experienced none of those problems so far this season.
“For me, it’s great. I think he is definitely one of the best drivers ever, and I think the best qualifier ever in Formula One,” Bottas told ESPN.
“He’s willing to work as a team and he’s not hiding anything and we can work well together.
“So for me, it’s perfect. But I definitely also want to challenge him, I want to be better than him, that’s how it goes.”
Bottas technically remains in title contention this weekend, although if his team-mate outscores him by just three points, he will be mathematically out of reach.
Vettel in second remains catchable for Bottas but even if he only finishes third, it will still be the 28-year-old’s best ever finish in F1.
But the Finn, who has already signed a one-year extension to keep him at Mercedes next season, remains ambitious to improve.
“Looking at this season, some races [there’s been] some struggles that I’ve had,” Bottas added.
“I have things to learn, I have to do a better job in certain areas but I know that by working hard on those details it’s possible.
“I want to be the best one day and hopefully that’s very soon.
“We have the baseline from this season, everything that we have done together as a team, with my engineers, and from every single race we have a massive amount of feedback.
“For me, things noted that I need to do better again on the track the year after.”