Hamilton celebrates 'perfect' start to '08

"It is the perfect way to begin season," said Hamilton, who led from pole position to take a commanding win from BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Williams's Nico Rosberg.

"I was saying to Nico it was eight years since we were on the podium together back in karting so it's great to be here again.

"We need to continue with the momentum we have. We could have gone quicker so I am not particularly bothered by the Ferrari pace.

"BMW and Williams have great pace so we need to keep on pushing, and I hope we can get a good result again," added the McLaren driver.

Hamilton, whose lead was never threatened, admitted he had to pace himself during the troubled race, which included three safety car periods.

"It was a really good start," added the Briton. "I had a bit of wheelspin so I thought it would be quite close going into the first corner, but I kept a gap and had to keep it cool and look after the tyres from then on.

"After that I had to pace myself and not overdo it, use it to my advantage and look after my tyres. There was a point in the second stint where I had to put my foot down because of the safety car.

"It was a bit like Montreal where we had four safety cars. It was hard to heat up tyres and brakes up, a good challenge, but we all did a good job."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis also celebrated the great result, although he admitted he was disappointed for Heikki Kovalainen, who lost out in a safety car period and had to settle for fifth place when he looked set for second.

"It's a great moment," Dennis told ITV. "It's been a difficult few months. Disappointed not to get second but we were caught out by the safety car a little bit.

"We wanted to get a little bit ahead of the BMW so one more lap would have been enough. Heikki did a great job, but what a wonderful drive by Lewis - a well disciplined drive. I'm just so happy with the competitiveness of the cars."