I can win the title this time, says Lewis

'Last year was a great learning curve,' he said at the launch of McLaren's 2008 car. 'I've grown up as a person and a driver.'

Scroll down for more

Double act: Hamilton and Kovalainen (left) pose with the new McLaren

It was not his verdict on leaving home but on how a decade's Formula One experience condensed into a single season of heroics, heartache and hysteria has matured him.

It was typical Hamilton: no bitterness over Spygate and a refusal to dwell on the downside of missing out on the title by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the final race in Brazil.

His focus was total and the positive energy fizzed off him. Looking ahead to the first race in Melbourne on March 16, he said: 'I honestly feel stronger right now. I have done a great deal of preparation before the first test. We have turned a new leaf. It's a fresh start for all of us.

'I know what I want. I knew what I wanted last year. I had the desire but I didn't know how to fill my shoes 100 per cent. I didn't know some of the circuits. You get 17 chances to learn and it takes time.

'All the knocks, mistakes, disappointments, even the wins and great results, help mould you into a better person. And if you can come off a race like Brazil, where you should have won the world championship, and keep a smile on your face, it's positive.

'Straight away I was thinking: "I can't wait for next year. Bring it on." I love driving the car and I honestly believe I can do a better job.'

Much of that depends on the car. He takes to the wheel of his new McLaren for the first time at Jerez in Spain tomorrow. He will instantly have a feeling of just how quick it is.

McLaren's chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh was upbeat, playing down the repercussions of having to remove three components which were believed to have originated at Ferrari to comply with the ruling body, the FIA.

'It's not a setback,' he insisted. 'We are confident that we can give the drivers a car capable of winning races. We know it is faster than the car we finished with in Brazil and will be faster again in Melbourne.'

Launches are an occasion for blind optimism and the validity of Whitmarsh's contention is yet to be tested.

Hamilton appeared at ease with his new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, the 26-year-old Finn who has traded his Renault place with Fernando Alonso. The body language was good. While posing for a picture taken for the benefit of sponsors Vodafone, Hamilton put his arm round Kovalainen in a show of goodwill.

Taking a dig at Alonso, Hamilton said: 'Some people make conversation. Others respond with one word. Heikki is easy to talk to.'

However, it is not small talk which will determine the longevity of their relationship. After all, Hamilton and Alonso looked a picture of fraternity a year ago.

It is about how they compare on the track and their responses to it. Kovalainen is a more relaxed character than his high-maintenance predecessor, yet there is no proof that he will be equally quick in the car. It's a recipe for harmony.

Hamilton said: 'I don't believe we will have a strategy for me to be first driver. Heikki and I will have the same opportunity and that's how it should be. We will push each other and that will push the team.

'Even when I was leading the world championship last year, that's the way it was. I had to work hard to stay ahead of Fernando.'

Hamilton's McLaren boss Ron Dennis, the man who has overseen his career, was in attendance. He sat next to Bernie Ecclestone, a sign perhaps that the sport's supremo is happy the controversies of last year should be consigned to the past.

However, this might not quite be the end of the saga for Dennis. The fact that the ceremony was held at Mercedes' HQ for the first time added weight to the theory that McLaren's engine partners could relieve him of his chairmanship.

The theory runs that Dennis will quietly make way later in the year, allowing him a dignified exit after the horrors of Spygate. Mercedes will increase their 40 per cent stake and Dennis will move aside to play more golf and indulge his passion for shooting.

Naturally, both sides deny such suggestions.

But for Hamilton his concentration is on Melbourne. Forget the pictures of him partying with celebrities in London, he is relishing the countdown to doing what he likes most and does best — racing.

He said: 'I've worked out my rivals' strengths. I know what they are made of. I'm ready and stronger than ever.'