Hamilton upbeat ahead of challenge

With former team-mate Fernando Alonso making a winter switch to Renault, the destination of the 2008 crown is expected to come down to a straight fight between McLaren driver Hamilton and the Ferraris of defending champion Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

But when asked if the pace shown by the Ferraris worried him, a bullish Hamilton replied: "Not one bit. Testing means nothing. If it does then we have to worry about Toyota or Williams or other teams."

He continued: "In testing, everyone stuck to their programmes, it doesn't matter what they're doing.

"At the end of the day, we pushed very, very hard. We've done a fantastic job, even better than we did last year and we had two new cars ready in the second week of January. No other team had that."

Hamilton will have a new partner this year in the shape of Heikki Kovalainen and with just a combined total of two seasons of Formula One action under their belts, the duo will form one of the most inexperienced line-ups on the grid.

However, the 23-year-old does not envisage that to be a hindrance despite the pressures that come with developing and driving a car for a top team like McLaren, insisting instead the fact he and the Finn are at similar stages of their respective careers will prove beneficial for their employers.

"The lack of experience has not been a problem and I don't think it will be," Hamilton added. "He (Kovalainen) has got a great career under his belt already, lots of experience, the same as me. I think it's quite good that we are aiming in the same direction.

"We get on very well, being both in our second year and both in a very similar age group.

"We both have the same drive, we want to do the same thing - to drive for our dream team and have the opportunity to be world champion at some stage in our careers - and that's all we're both looking for."