When asked for his predictions for the year, Hamilton said: `Pretty much the same people will be up there as last year – apart from maybe us,” the Guardian quotes him as saying.
The Stevenage-born racer went on to say that there were many unknown factors, however, and that the team would be striving to reach the high standards they set themselves.
“It’s been a long, long break since the last grand prix, and we’ve come here not knowing what to expect. But I feel very proud to be here as world champion, to have realised a dream I had long held. The goal now is to be world champion again.
You can improve and you can always try to be better. Now we will just try and do the best job we can.”