Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes are "hyped" ahead of the new Formula 1 season despite a difficult pre-season.
Porpoising issues with the new 2022 car led the seven-time world champion to rule out fighting for victory at this weekend's opening Bahrain Grand Prix at the final test last week.
However, Hamilton is equally certain his team will respond to the challenge of trying to tame their bucking W13.
“Testing’s been difficult,” he said speaking at the Dubai Expo this week.
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“There were a lot of cars that were looking quite fast. The Alfa Romeo was looking fast, Valtteri [Bottas] was looking quick. Obviously, the Red Bull looks ridiculously fast at the moment and the Ferraris.
“But we are the best team, undoubtedly," he added. "I had a conference call with all the engineers up in Brackley about how we can push this car forward, how we can stop it from jumping, how we can extract all the performance from it.
"So everyone’s hyped, everyone’s excited and these engineers, they love the challenge. So it’s good.”
For the first time since 2017, Hamilton also starts a season not as world champion after losing out to Max Verstappen in last year's infamous finale in Abu Dhabi.
So much has gone into getting back and being here both physically and spiritually. Me and the team @MercedesAMGF1 put in a lot of hard work and long hours, and we’re going to give it everything we can for you guys. Keep the positivity coming 🙏🏾 #teamlh pic.twitter.com/hsdxC4in0h
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 17, 2022
But the 37-year-old is still highly motivated by the opportunity to become F1's first-ever eight-time world champion.
“Everything. I think it’s impossible to know what the future holds and what it would feel like. But doing something that no one else had done would of course be mind-blowing," he said on what achieving that goal would mean.
"I love being a part of the team. I love working with, and I’ve said it so many times, working with everyone towards a common goal.
"I feel I’m at my best, There are so many different ways you can refocus and be recentered, and I would say this [winter] is one of the best that I’ve experienced.
"So I feel the freshest today that I feel I ever have."
