Q & A with Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton: It's extremely hot. I did the test last week and even before you're in the car, in th suit, there's no breeze when you're on the track so it's extremely tough physically. But I've been fortunate enough to be out in this heat for the last couple of weeks so I've been able to acclimatise.

Q. What about the track itself?

LH: The track is really nice - I didn't know what to expect watching the Grand Prix over the years but it looked nice. But it's really quite demanding out there, in the high speed corners there's really quite a nice combination of corners and I really enjoy driving it.

Q. Are you surprised by the reaction after your debut in Australia?

LH: Absolutely, it's been quite strange to hear the stories going on back home, the response I got back home was quite huge and the interest was unreal. It's overwhelming. I still feel quite relaxed, the same person I was going into and out of the first race.

But it's just a new world - it's an out of body experience. It's like I'm standing watching myself and it's just crazy. Yesterday, I saw some big poster of me in the town and you just don't believe it's real. It doesn't feel real.

Q. Are you afraid the expectations are too high now?

LH: I don't think so. There's a lot of talk about expectation - and there always has been - and going into the first race there was a huge amount of expectation. But doesn't make any difference to me.

Q. Alonso said you could win...

LH: Yeah, I feel very confident in the car and very confident in what I can do and always have been. going into this race, there is a possibility to win a Grand Prix this year. As we saw in the first race, I do have the pace - I don't think I should rush into it. I've still got 17 races to go. But I'm here to win - whether it's this weekend or the last weekend as long as I get one in.

Q. Lewis, you went on holiday with Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg after Australia. How was that?

LH: I've known Nico and Adrian for quite a few years now and I've been teammates to both of them coming up through my career so I've got a very good relationship with them. They're two of the best drivers I've driven with and I've learnt a lot from them personality wise and on the track.

It was really good to be here and racing is quite unreal - to know that six years ago we were all talking about this that one day we'd like to be in F1 and now we're all here. To see Nico come past me in the pitlane is just crazy. But it was really nice to get away - we did some training together it was quite competitive.

We did some sightseeing, it was very relaxed we get on very well, no problems. We are very competitive but know our positions in the championship. Adrian's very determined and knows what he's got to do in the next couple of years. The last three weeks we've been training.

Q. What did you learn in Australia? What lessons will you take forward?

LH: Outside of the car there's the whole experience of working with the media, how things go and how they're planned out and scheduled; learning how to cope with the time, managing the time and giving yourself enough time to prepare yourself. It's easy to get stuck doing interviews and not have enough time to sit down and prepare yourself for the race.

At the end of the day, it's a tough job going out there and driving flat out for an hour and a half without falling out of the zone. If you just finish an interview and get straight into the car then it's just not going to happen - it's not something you can just switch on and zone yourself in.

In the car, the aim is to make as few mistakes as possible, trying to push and get more out of the car.

Q. Does it feel very different now you've done a GP already?

LH: Not really. Going into the first GP I wasn't nervous about uncertainties. I just went there to do my thing and got on with it. Coming here, it's the very similar approach to many other race I've ever had - I've got a job to do and want to be very competitive and not make very mistakes.

The first GP is slightly different because you can come away with a bad result, and I need to just carry that with me and there's a little bit pressure now but there's still the same pressure on me to succeed.

Q. Did it help testing here last week?

LH: We'll see tomorrow but I think it's a big help definitely in terms of preparing myself physically and going out on track - the more laps you do., the fitter you get and it's a very demanding circuit so you learn what you need from the car.

Q. Do you have fun driving here?

LH: Yeah, a couple of long straights so hopefully there'll be more overtaking than the last race!

Q. Where do you see Ferrari compared to McLaren?

LH: At the test, it's really difficult to know whether we've closed the gap - but we've been working very hard and we've found some things on the car. For sure, we're definitely working towards closing the gap. I do feel very optimistic about this week and feel that we can bring the battle to them.

Q. How do you see your own speed compared to Fernando in Australia?

LH: In the race, it was a fantastic experience to be racing in front of him. And seeing him in my mirrors. At the end of the day, he finished ahead of me but throughout testing, I was very close to him. Some people thought he was holding back and only driving at 70-80 per cent but I knew he wasn't.

For sure, he is very competitive and extremely quick so I just have to improve my game and learn as much as I can from him. We're in the same car, so we're going to be close no matter what happens. It's just how much I can learn and how much I can improve to pass him.

Q. Were you surprised by your reaction at the first corner in Australia?

LH: It was a surprise to me to see how early people did brake - then I had that split-second thought to dive round the outside and that's what I did and was just surprised that it pulled off so well. But that's what happens!