Auto Racing

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

Hamilton upbeat about Mercedes prospects after 5th place at F1Australian GP

By: Chris Lines, The Associated Press

Posted: 03/17/2013 9:48 AM | Comments: 0

From left to right front row, Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, of France, Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, of Finland, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, of Brazil, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, of Spain, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, of Germany, Red Bull driver Mark Webber, of Australia, McLaren driver Jenson Button, of Britain , McLaren driver Sergio Perez, of Mexico, second row, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, of Finland, Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, of Venezuela, Force India driver Adrian Sutil, of Germany, Force India driver Paul di Resta, of Britain, Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez, of Mexico, Sauber Formula Nico Hulkenberg, of Germany, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, of Germany, back row, Marussia driver Max Chilton, of Britain, Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, of France, Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde, of the Netherlands, Caterham driver Charles Pic, of France, Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo, of Australia and Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne, of France pose for the official drivers photo ahead of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

MELBOURNE, Australia - As a driver accustomed to challenging for grand prix wins nearly every time he takes to a Formula One track, it's unusual to hear Lewis Hamilton declare his happiness over a distant fifth placing.

But such are the new realities for Hamilton, having switched from McLaren to Mercedes, that he was enthused with Sunday's performance at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

"It's great. I'm very happy. It's way better than we could have expected on the first race of the season so it's a good place to start," Hamilton said.

"It's a big step for us. We didn't really expect to be as high as we are. The car was feeling great during the race and I was enjoying every moment."

A podium finish and perhaps even a win appeared possible when the Briton led the race for three laps in the early stages, but the impressive lap-life the Mercedes got out of the super-soft tires did not translate onto the medium compound variety.

That meant a planned two-stop strategy had to be abandoned and a switch made to three. Race winner Kimi Raikkonen, the two Ferraris and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel drove away from him in the latter half of the race, and in the end he had to fight hard to hold off Red Bull's Mark Webber.

"I don't quite know where we lost the ground to the cars ahead so we'll have a look at the race again now and figure it out," Hamilton said. "The important thing is that we have a car that we can really work with."

His teammate Nico Rosberg, who topped the timesheets in the first and second qualifying sessions, pulled out of the race on lap 27 due to an electrical failure.

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