Hamilton can handle F1

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The 22-year-old battled through red-hot conditions and kept the "red blobs" of the Ferrari duo in his rear mirrors at Sepang as his stunning start in Formula One continued.

"I always wondered when I was finally challenged by someone like Fernando (Alonso) or Kimi (Raikkonen) in a race whether I'd be able to defend and I managed it, so I'm really happy. Defending is 10 times harder than trying to pass someone," he said.

"That was the most difficult race I have ever had.

"To have two Ferraris behind, two red blobs in the mirrors which were a little lighter and a little quicker than you, it is very difficult to keep them behind you.

"It was incredibly tough, it was just so hot in the car. I was fortunate that my trainer, the doctor and I had worked extremely hard to make sure I was fit enough for this race.

"I drank enough over the last three weeks. I've drunk and drunk all day to make sure I didn't dehydrate."

Raikkonen closed down a sizeable gap as the race drew to a close but Hamilton was able to hang on by just 0.782 seconds

"During the third stint the car was sliding more, so it was definitely harder, and I came up to some backmarkers," he added.

"I was trying not to lose any time to him because I knew Kimi was pushing and I could see that I was two seconds down a lap. So I dug in and just tried to make it to the end."