Lewis Hamilton has been left excited for what is to come after enjoying a \u201creally fun\u201d Australian Grand Prix, with the seven-time World Champion admitting that he wished the race could have gone on longer \u2013 particularly after only just missing out on P3 to Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting from P7 on the grid,\u00a0Hamilton\u00a0made a strong start when the event got underway in Melbourne, climbing up to third place behind the similarly fast-launching\u00a0Leclerc\u00a0and the\u00a0Mercedes\u00a0of\u00a0George Russell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With both of the Scuderia\u2019s cars remaining out on track during two Virtual Safety Cars \u2013 while Mercedes pitted Russell and\u00a0Kimi Antonelli\u00a0in the first phase \u2013 the Silver Arrows made a one-stop strategy work, meaning that Leclerc and Hamilton slipped behind them when they eventually made their own stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it seemed that Mercedes had sealed a 1-2, Hamilton chased down Leclerc in the final stages of the race – but the seven-time World Champion narrowly lost out on the last spot on the podium, crossing the line a little over half a second behind his team mate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this, Hamilton was left feeling positive about his\u00a0afternoon in Melbourne, commenting afterwards: \u201cI feel great. I feel like I could have kept going \u2013 I wish the race was longer! Another five laps or so, I think I would have got third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s lots and lots of positives to take from today and the car\u2019s feeling great. It was actually a really fun race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quizzed on whether he felt that\u00a0Ferrari\u00a0could get themselves into the fight at the front should they make further improvements over the next few races, the Briton responded: \u201cYeah, I think we\u2019ve got some work to do to try and catch up\u2026 We\u2019ve got to work on improving our power, clearly, because [Mercedes have] just got more power than everyone, it seems, or more battery power, not really sure what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I really think we maximised our result and our performance, and I felt great in the car so I\u2019m really, really excited for the next races.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton will not have long to wait to get back behind the wheel, with the\u00a0Chinese Grand Prix\u00a0taking place in just one week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n