Lewis Hamilton insists he’s ‘youthful than ever’. But this is what the paddock is basically saying about his possibilities of a report eighth F1 title – and the thoughts video games George Russell is enjoying on him in Melbourne: JONATHAN McEVOY

Lewis Hamilton and Melbourne is a case study in itself. This splendid city is where he first cast his genius as a 22-year-old and where on Thursday, 19 years later, he argued that Africa should reclaim itself from countries such as Britain.

Hamilton’s fresh-faced debut in Melbourne in 2007, with an opening corner bravura that was a precursor to a series of nine podium finishes, went beyond magic – a memorable get-away that will never be forgotten.

Melbourne is where, under McLaren team direction, he fibbed to the stewards about letting Toyota’s Jarno Trulli pass him and felt the full opprobrium of a sporting world – a minor aberration, really – two years after his debut. It is where he was stopped by zealous police for ‘hooning’ – wheel-spinning his road car on the way out of the track.

It was where his Ferrari hopes went sour last year, just after joining full of hope, a bounce to his step before hard reality hit.

It is, finally, where a large part of his future will be determined over the next few days.

The seven-time world champion was bullish here ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, speaking at a sun-lit Albert Park. Bullish about his fitness, bullish about his chances, bullish about Africa hosting a grand prix before he retires. 

Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari was in bullish mood ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne

Hamilton checks over his car in the garage ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. ‘It feels massively different from the first year,’ Hamilton says. ‘A much nicer feeling’

But forget Lewis the statesman for a second. There are more individually particular matters for him, the racing driver, on which subject he is an expert practitioner, to concentrate upon.

The deal with Hamilton is that if he is to win an eighth world title, he needs to show form now, from the off in Australia. He is 41 and sand is running out of the timer.

The view in the paddock, among the expert number-crunchers, is that Hamilton is not up to speed as compared to his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

So much so that George Russell omitted Hamilton from his list of rivals when he spoke earlier on Thursday. He later said it was not intentional. Nonsense. Russell starts the season as Mercedes’ No 1 and favourite for the title, and knows what he is saying.

As for Hamilton, he was upbeat. But he was a year ago here. Then, it was an optimism built on feeble evidence. He was self-recriminating for the rest of the year. ‘Absolutely useless,’ was one memorable example of his crisis of confidence – words uttered in Hungary at an especially low ebb.

He was, in fact, ‘useless’ by his own stratospheric standards of achievement. No question about that, and the only possible route out of his ignominy seemed to me to be retirement. I have urged that suggestion on him in print.

No driver of the modern era has sustained his brilliance into his forties. The old boys did in the 1950s but that was because of the War. They were all older then, and a different breed of cars played its part in their longevity.

Hamilton meets the fans in Melbourne. ‘I’m rediscovering myself,’ he says. ‘I lost sight of myself. You won’t see that person again’

No driver of the modern era has sustained his brilliance into his forties. Hamilton is 41 and the sand is running out of the timer

On Thursday, Hamilton said: ‘I’m rediscovering myself. I lost sight of myself. You won’t see that person again.’

He is talking about all his negativity from last season, pretty much every post-qualifying session being an essay in agony. Let’s see how long that promise stands up.

He has made changes. His race engineer Riccardo Adami has gone after they yowled at each other last year. Kimi Raikkonen’s former man, Carlo Santi, takes that role as a stand-in. The Italian is on trial. Hamilton has also separated from a couple of close personnel. First among those is his long-time lieutenant Marc Hynes, his manager.

Hamilton always rings the changes, has done all his career. He particularly likes a revamp in difficult times, a slate-cleaning exercise. A list of his former employees could fill a phonebook, going back to his original trainer Adam Constanzo back in the mists of time.

‘It’s massively different from the first year and a much nicer feeling, having spent a season at the team, understanding the culture, finding ways of working together,’ said Hamilton of his Ferrari journey. ‘We’re in a good place now together as a team, and I feel very gelled today. So, yeah, much happier.

‘I don’t feel like this is my 20th year in Formula One. I feel younger than ever somehow. I feel very fresh. Whilst he (Arvid Lindblad, making his F1 debut for Racing Bulls) is 18, I feel like I’m 18 as well. It’s all in the mind, and physically I feel great.’

Hamilton in pre-season testing in Bahrain. Ferrari believe they are in a better place than this time last season

The view in the paddock is that Hamilton is not up to speed as compared to his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc (left)

On Africa, Hamilton, who largely lives in the US but was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, with roots in Grenada on his father’s side, said: ‘I’ve been to 10 countries now in Africa. For the past seven years, I’ve been fighting to get a grand prix, sitting with stakeholders and asking: “Why are we not in Africa?”

‘There’s a race on every other continent. They’re trying. They’ve been to a few countries. I loved Kenya. Rwanda was spectacular. Two places I felt like I could live. South Africa (which last held a race in Kyalami in 1993) is stunning. Rwanda or there would be good places for us. I don’t want to leave the sport without getting to race in Africa.

‘I’m proud of that part of the world and I don’t like that the rest of the world owns so much of it and takes so much from it and no one speaks about it. I hope the people running those countries unite and take Africa back from the French, from the Spanish, from the Portuguese and the British. It’s so important for the future of that continent.’

Hamilton’s future behind the wheel is surely nearing the end. He made his debut aged 22. He is now 41. This season will not be easy for him, but events in Melbourne and the forthcoming weeks will determine how young he truly feels, how youthfully he drives. It is hard, it must be said, to hold high hopes.