McLaren Preview: Hamilton 'more ready than ever' for new season

What does Melbourne mean to you?
Hamilton: "Melbourne is a city that has sport running through its veins and the crowd lives and breathes it. It's a great place to start the season. For me, Melbourne means sunshine, smiling faces, a great paddock a bit compact but very friendly, a great city with a really positive vibe and a racetrack that's really made for racing. A place where you can really get the back-end of the car moving around quite nicely yet still feel like you're fully in control of the car. The track has got a nice flow to it I love the fast sweepers behind the pits, it's awesome when you get them right and it's a place where, the more you can attack, the faster you go. My kind of place!"

After just three tests six days each in the car do you feel prepared?
"I actually feel more relaxed and ready for the new season than I think I've ever done. Everything has gone smoothly with the car which is more than we can say for last year! and it just seems to be a responsive and reliable package. My final day in the car with the aero package we plan to run next weekend also felt good: the car was a useful step forward."

"Of course, we haven't tested it in competition yet, but there's plenty to feel optimistic about. It's a bit weird to have driven the car for a whole month and still not done a really fast lap I guess we'll really find the limit next Saturday. Obviously, this is always the time of year when you're feeling positive, but we've got plenty to look forward to. I'm going to get off the plane in Australia with a big smile on my face."

What are your hopes and aims for the Australian Grand Prix?
"It's a realistic aim: to score some useful points and use the race to kickstart our challenge for the world championship. That might sound like we're aiming low we're not but, at this time of year, it's good to remember that it's going to be a very long season. There's no point putting all your eggs in one basket I'd love to win in Melbourne, sure, but there are 19 races afterwards, so it'll be important to get some points on the board. As long as I can leave Australia feeling confident that we have a car that's able to fight for the title, then I'll feel happy. It's as simple as that."