Hamilton: Testing has been far tougher than we expected

LEWIS HAMILTON is hoping this year’s Australian Grand Prix weekend will be a far quieter affair for him personally than has been the case in the recent past.

In 2009, in his first race as world champion following his stunning success just a few months previously, the McLaren ace was caught in a web of deceit.

After finishing third, Hamilton was ultimately excluded from the classification after lying to stewards in a post-race investigation into an incident involving Jarno Trulli, then with Toyota.

Then last year, just weeks after sacking father Anthony as manager, the 26-year-old was charged on the eve of qualifying by Melbourne police for ‘hooning’ – burning rubber in his hired Mercedes – an offence that earned him a fine of £280.

Those two incidents have blotted Hamilton’s copybook, so you can appreciate his eagerness ahead of Sunday’s season-opening race.

“This year should be a little more dull for you guys (the media) — hopefully,” Hamilton said.

“Outside of the track I won’t be doing any driving. I’ll be keeping to myself in the hotel.”

“Generally I always drive to and from the track, but probably on race day I might not.”

On the flip side, Hamilton feels that in the eyes of the Australian public, his stock has increased.

“I’ve always had decent support when I go to Australia, and I’ve met a lot of Australians since. I think they can relate to me a little bit more, that I’m not a robot, saying ‘Ah, you’re like one of us. Nice to meet you’. So I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully having a bit more support this season.”

Hamilton will need all the support he can muster to assist him over the next few weeks if McLaren have failed to close the gap to their rivals that was apparent in testing.

Lacking in reliability and short on pace, McLaren’s new car was at least a second adrift of Ferrari and reigning champions Red Bull come the conclusion to the last test in Barcelona.

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh has since claimed the team have revamped the car, and is convinced they have clawed back the deficit.

If no strides have been made, then so much for Hamilton claiming to be fitter and more positive than he has ever been going into a new season.

“We can’t hide the fact testing has been tougher than we expected,” added Hamilton. “Our test mileage hasn’t been as high as our rivals, nor have we had the outright pace of the fastest cars.

“Still, I have a good feeling with the car, and I understand we’ll be making further performance steps ahead of this opening race. Nevertheless, we know we go to Melbourne ready for battle. Some teams are extremely well prepared, both from a pace and reliability point of view.

“But that can sometimes count for little in the unpredictable and somewhat chaotic opening races where it’s equally vital just to take points home. I strongly believe that, while our preparations haven’t gone as smoothly as we’d have liked, we’ll be arriving in Melbourne with everything finally meshing together – and that makes me really excited.”