“We have done a superb job all weekend, we had a great car and I am very happy with a great start to the season. If I needed to have pushed more I could [have], but I was quite happy and quite comfortable driving at the pace I was at. I was keeping in touch with the team and they were telling me I had half a second compared to everyone else, so I just kept it that way.
“I had plenty of time in me so I just used that to my advantage and tried to look after the tyres, [though] there was a point in the second stint when I had to put my foot down due to the safety car.
“I guess it was a bit like my first win in Montreal last year when we had four safety cars. It was pretty similar to that in that it was difficult to heat the tyres and the brakes up. It was a good challenge but we've all done a great job.”
As to the failed threat of
Ferrari – both of whose drivers suffered spins during the race, culminating in Maranello racking up just a single point from the weekend – Hamilton refused to rule anything out, but while he is well aware the
Scuderia will not be down for long, he is equally confident that the Silver Arrows have the legs of their scarlet rivals as the teams head towards round two in Malaysia this coming weekend.
“I think a lot of hype was put on them,” the 2006 GP2 Series Champion acknowledged. “They've obviously had a tough weekend, but we can't forget that they are a great team and they have a very good car and two great drivers as well. One bad weekend…I'm sure everyone could have a bad weekend at some point during the season; there are still 17 races to go.
