LEWIS WIZARD OF OZ

LEWIS Hamilton rated his latest Grand Prix win as the finest of his career but admits he is still nowhere near the finished F1 article.

Hamilton stormed to victory in Australia yesterday to stand atop of the podium for the fifth time in a breathless 12 months on the track.

But after steering his McLaren home 5.4 seconds ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and Nico Rosberg’s Williams, Hamilton believes he is only just starting to tap into his true potential.

Only seven cars lasted the 58 laps in Melbourne and Hamilton said: “It’s probably the best race I’ve had so far, in terms of managing tyres, controlling my pace and confidence, and being comfortable in the car.

“It’s quite different to my first win in Montreal, just because it was not really expected.

“Coming into your second season, this is the sort of target I set myself - so I guess I’ve put more pressure on myself this year.

“This perhaps feels better than any, because I feel I’ve improved in so many areas.

“But I wouldn’t say it’s the perfect win. I would say there are a lot of areas I can improve.”

Despite the blistering temperature, Hamilton was coolness personified as he avoided the mayhem on the first corner and led from the front for most of the race, even though his lead was repeatedly wiped out by the safety car.

After coming so close to claiming the World Championship on his debut last year, Hamilton was understandably delighted to start the new season in winning style.

Hamilton lost out on the title to Kimi Raikkonen in the final race and fought a bitter fued with teammate Fernando Alonso, who finished fourth having returned to Renault during the off season.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis had been expected to quit in the aftermath of the spygate affair which cost them a record £50m fine.

But Hamilton said: “I wouldn’t say it draws a line under it.

“But for sure, coming into a new season and turning over a new leaf, we really wanted to get off on the right foot.

“Ron’s been through a lot - so have the team - but we pulled through, and it really shows in the results.

“I’m glad he’s happy. It’s an emotional feeling to win the first grand prix of the season - especially with all the winter testing, the whole build-up, not really knowing whether you had the pace of everyone else, whether you would be able to win, whether the cars could be reliable.

“But when you come out on top it’s a real relief and great satisfaction.”

Raikkonen started from 15th on the grid after a fuel pump problem but made up seven places and was even running as high as third at one point.

But the Finn found himself at the back of the field when he ended up in the gravel, over-shooting on a bend passing Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren after the second of three safety car re-starts.

A subsequent spin and engine failure compounded Raikkonen’s misery, but he managed to claim a point after Rubens Barrichello’s disqualification, for exiting the pit lane with the red light on, bumped him up a place to eighth.

Hamilton’s new teammate Kovalainen finished fifth after missing out on beating Alonso at the death by accidentally hitting the pit lane speed limiter button.

But nevertheless it was a pleasing start for McLaren who opened up a 13-point gap over Ferrari whose Felipe Massa also failed to finish having earlier rammed a furious David Coulthard out of the race.

But despite the Italian team’s terrible start, Hamilton is not getting carried away.

“I think a lot of hype was put on them,” he said.

“They’ve obviously had a tough weekend. But we can’t forget that they are a great team and they have a very good car and two great drivers as well.

“One bad weekend - I’m sure everyone could have a bad weekend at some point during the season. There are still 17 races to go.”

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