We speak with Mercedes' Lewis, Nico and Toto ahead of the new F1 season

March 18, 2016

Lewis Hamilton says he will go into Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix with a Mercedes AMG Petronas car that is “bigger, more beautiful and more powerful” than the one he drove to his second straight Formula One World Championship in 2015.

World champion Hamilton, who is again nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, said: “I feel super. I feel younger than I've ever been, to be honest. I got back in the car and it was super-easy. The car feels great.”

In the interview, Hamilton, fellow driver Nico Rosberg and Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff also talked to Laureus.com about their Nomination for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award. Among their comments:

Toto Wolff said: “In testing you never quite know where your competitors are. Melbourne is going to give us a first indication of whether we've done a good enough job or not.”

Nico Rosberg, on competing with Lewis Hamilton, said: “It's just full attack. I'm looking forward to the battle and I want to try and beat him. I'm not doing anything different it's just that I've become that little bit more efficient again in my approach.”

On his Nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, Lewis Hamilton said: “I feel very privileged. It's such a prestigious Award. It's great to see what Laureus do in their work and you know it's something that all the great athletes aspire to win one day.”

On the #DriveForGood campaign which raised €160,000 for Laureus, Nico Rosberg said: “It was a great idea. 100 euros per kilometre. Thankfully I managed to get a lot of kilometres in the lead of the race, especially at the end of the season, so that gathered a lot of money.”