Lewis Hamilton aims to mimic his 2007 debut third-place finish, claiming ‘I love the Australian Grand Prix’

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Published: 13 March 2013

LEWIS HAMILTON will be happy to finish third on his debut for the Mercedes Formula One team this Sunday in a sweltering Melbourne.

While many parts of the UK are hit with snow, Lewis Hamilton will be enjoying the ice cream down under as he aims to impress and establish himself as the Number One driver at Mercedes GP.

“Right now, I’d definitely take third,” the 28-year-old from Stevenage said. "I can’t wait to get to Melbourne, get out on the track and find out where we stand. The Australian Grand Prix is always an exciting race as the teams do not know how they compare in terms of performance."

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Lewis Hamilton is respected for taking the time to sign autographs for his excitable fans.

“The fans are fantastic,” the 2008 Formula One World Champion and former McLaren driver added. “The fans in Australia are fantastic and with big changes again to the tyres this year, we just don’t know what will happen in the race.”

Having finished third in 2008 on his Formula One debut with McLaren, it seems appropriate that the mature Briton has set his sights on matching that memorable moment for this exciting debut with Mercedes GP. In six starts, he has won the Australian Grand Prix on one occasion but accumulated two pole positions and four podiums.

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Lewis Hamilton with his former McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who helped him into Formula One after meeting at the age of just 13-years-old.

“I love the circuit,” an overjoyed Lewis Hamilton said. “It''s a street track with a really bumpy surface so you try and put as much downforce on the car as possible and it really puts the drivers to the test.”

Teammate Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in Barcelona during the pre-season testing, speeding around the Circuit de Catalunya in 1:20.130. Lewis Hamilton was not far behind, achieving a time of 1:20.588, four hundredths of a second slower – separated by double Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso with a time of 1:20.588.

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Lewis Hamilton was so fast in Barcelona that even his critics now believe he is in strong contention to win the championship - before the season has even got underway.

With that speed, both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg should be cautiously confident of having a fast car and it remains to be seen whether the pair can work together in harmony to win the World Championship for their team while also fighting it out as gentlemen for one to claim the Drivers’ title.

Speaking on his new Mercedes F1 W04, Hamilton said: “We had a good, reliable car during winter testing so that''s the positive we can take with us into the weekend but we know that in terms of performance, everything begins again from zero in Friday practice. So let''s get Down Under, get racing and see how things turn out.”