Lewis on top of his game Down Under
LEWIS HAMILTON realises he must be at his very best when he blasts his Mercedes off the line in the Australian Grand Prix tomorrow.
The Brit will start the curtain-raiser in Melbourne as favourite to win a fourth drivers’ crown after he missed out to former teammate Nico Rosberg last year. Hamilton paid the price for a slow start and rule changes designed to make the cars up to five seconds a lap quicker have seen Ferrari and Red Bull close the gap on Mercedes.
The German outfit have won 51 of the previous 59 races but Hamilton, who was fastest in second practice in Melbourne, said: “I was at the top of my game in the last four races of last year, so I plan to bring that into this season.
“I am on it and plan to keep it that way. It is a wonderful feeling to have the car so strong coming into a new era. The cars are faster than last year and the challenge of exploiting that speed with your car is a great challenge.”
The bad news for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull pair Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen is that Mercedes appear to have unlocked extra pace between testing and arriving Down Under.
Hamilton, 32, hailed the improvement in performance and said: “It was a night and day difference to how the car felt in the last few days of testing, so that was a big relief for all of us.
“After struggling with some issues in Barcelona, we didn’t know if we’d have the same thing here.
“What’s really encouraging is that we’ve arrived at the track just a week later and the car is should be.” Hamilton and Rosberg never saw eye to eye at Mercedes and the Briton is now paired with Valtteri Bottas. Following the Finn’s move from Williams, Bottas has his work cut out to match Hamilton’s pace. “Business has continued as usual,” added Hamilton. “There is probably less tension in the air and with Valtteri coming in, it is a positive breath of fresh air. “It is a new chapter to write together as a team with new regulations and driver line-up. It’s definitely a positive.” exactly where it