Martin Brundle pinpoints Lewis Hamilton's upperhand at Australian GP despite "slow start"

Lewis Hamilton's motivation in aiming to win a record eighth Formula 1 drivers championship title could give him the edge over his rivals at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, according to Martin Brundle.

The Briton has endured a difficult start to the 2022 season as he aims to challenge reigning champion Max Verstappen, finishing third in the curtain raiser in Bahrain and a lowly 10th at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah a fortnight ago. His Mercedes has struggled to find pace amid the introduction of new budget caps and drastic changes to car design for 2022, with porpoising an ongoing issue for the team.

It appears that Ferrari and Red Bull are the constructors best positioned to challenge for the title, with Charles Leclerc and Verstappen duelling at the front in both races. But even Red Bull have suffered issues with reliability after a double retirement in the season opener.

But Hamilton, who has won 103 races in his career - the most by any driver in the history of the sport - will be hoping to end his seven-year drought in Melbourne after last winning at Albert Park back in 2015. And former driver-turned-commentator Brundle thinks the 37-year-old cannot be written off so early in the season despite a slow start.

“The Melbourne Grand Prix is historically the season-opener, but will this weekend kick off a massive day on Sky Sports. It will be a high-octane affair, with the resurgence of Ferrari seeing no signs of slowing down," Brundle said, speaking ahead of Sky Sports’ Sunday Special.

"Following last season’s nail-biting rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull, it’s great have even more names in the mix with [Charles] Leclerc and [Carlos] Sainz leading from the front for the Italian manufacturer. It’s