Lewis Hamilton hits back at Nico Rosberg over claims inconsistency could cost him a fifth F1 world championship

Lewis Hamilton has hit back at former team-mate Nico Rosberg’s claim that inconsistency could cost him a fifth world championship this year.

Britain’s most successful F1 driver warned critics and rivals alike he had yet to peak as he relished the opportunity to go wheel-to-wheel again with Sebastian Vettel - starting at this Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Defending champion Hamilton and Rosberg endured an increasingly fraught relationship as Mercedes teammates in 2016, culminating in the latter winning the world title that year.

Of suggestions he was inconsistent, the 33-year-old Mercedes driver said: “I think I proved that’s not the case last year. Again, I think there’s a lot of people that need to get headlines - and that’s one way of doing it. The goal this year is to be more consistent - but consistency was the reason I won the world championship last year.”

Once close friends coming through the ranks, there is no love lost between Hamilton and Rosberg.

Earlier this week, the German said: “[Lewis] has these periods when he is just not on it. If you are able to pounce in those periods and really make the most of it, you can keep him down for a while longer. You have to make the most of it and Sebastian did pretty well last year.”

On the evidence of winter testing, Vettel looks set to pose the biggest threat to Hamilton as he bids to emulate Juan Manuel Fangio’s five world titles and put him just two shy of Michael Schumacher’s overall record.

And Hamilton said: “This is an exciting year for fans, with two four-time world champions battling it out. There’s a lot of hype around our team, which is hard to take notice of as the last test was a little distorted.

“When you come to the end of your career, you want to know you competed against the best. The ultimate goal is to be the best and go up against the best. It’s been a great experience racing Sebastian.”

While there was fractiousness between the pair both on and off the track last season, it was all smiles in Melbourne today, Ferrari ace Vettel similarly effusive about his race rival.

“It becomes something special to win against the best,” said the German. “I want to win against the best and Lewis is arguably one of them. And I’m searching for the ultimate satisfaction of winning [the title] with Ferrari, the greatest team in the paddock.”

Hamilton is the bookmakers’ favourite for title No5 come the season end, the Mercedes having shown both reliability and outright pace in testing.

And despite already putting himself in the pantheon of the F1 greats with 62 grand prix victories, a record 72 pole positions and 117 podiums, he warned Vettel and the rest of the grid that he was still on the rise as a driver.

Asked if he had reached his peak, Hamilton said: “I hope not. I’m sure there is a peak for a driver when it’s harder to reach the fitness level required and interest starts to decline and the drive starts to decline. That’s when you’re over that peak, but I’m definitely not over that. I’m in a good range.”

Last season, Hamilton finished with 363 points to Vettel’s 317 and comfortably eclipsed him in terms of race wins, with nine to the German’s five.

And Vettel admitted he was starting on the back foot: “Mercedes and Lewis are the favourite for this year but it’s quite a long year. We still have all the reasons to be confident.”