Hamilton is gunning for glory again this year as he seeks to move one step closer to matching the legendary Michael Schumacher’s haul of seven titles.
And he laid down a marker for his rivals earlier this month as he helped Valtteri Bottas seal a Mercedes one-two by coming home in second in Melbourne.
Some drivers felt the Australian Grand Prix showed F1 chiefs had been wrong to reduce the temperate blankets can heat tyres up to from 100 degrees Centigrade to 80 degrees C.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen said: “The rears are pretty tricky coming out of the pits.”
However, Lewis Hamilton says he experienced no issues following the change and he reckons Mercedes, Ferrari and co. might have been making the same mistake for years.
“The out-lap wasn’t a problem,” Hamilton said, when asked if he had any problems after coming from the pits.
“The tyres in general operate quite well in that region.
“Probably the blanket temperatures we used to have in the past were too high anyway.”
Hamilton will be looking to send a message to the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen when practice starts in Bahrain on Friday.
The 34-year-old came home in third at last year’s race in Sakhir, behind winner Vettel and second-place Bottas.
He had, though, fought his way through the pack having only managed to qualify in a disappointing ninth position.
Meanwhile, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has revealed what it’s like managing Hamilton on an everyday basis.
“Tough! Especially with all those away-from the track activities Lewis likes to indulge in…” Wolff said.
“I’m always worried, and we had a laugh last year because I couldn’t get hold of him and couldn’t get hold of my chief strategist and one of the race engineers – and found out they were racing motorbikes in Jerez and nobody would pick up the phone.
“And then they were a bit apologetic. But Lewis is not an 18 or 19 year old young man anymore.
“He’s a five-time World Champion. He knows exactly what works for him and what doesn’t.”