Rivals set sights on confident Hamilton

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton may rue being so dismissive of his competition after dominating the opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton was quick to rub salt into the wounds of his competitors -- the majority of whom were forced to retire after series of accidents and mechanical problems -- by suggesting it was one of the easiest wins of his career.

""We could have gone quicker in Melbourne, so I am not too particularly bothered about the Ferrari's pace," he told AFP.

The prancing horse endured a disastrous start to their title defense, with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa both failing to finish the 58-lap race in intense heat.

Raikkonen banked one point for Ferrari, but only after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was stripped of his sixth placing for running a red light in the pit lane.

Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's sporting director, said the engines from both cars were being sent to Italy for testing.

He promised Ferrari would be working hard to make amends at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix -- a pledge to take seriously after the team registered the quickest times while testing over the winter break.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld, who finished second nearly 5 ½ seconds behind Hamilton, said it had been a brilliant start to their season and he was confident of repeating past successes at Sepang.

"Last year I had a great race and finished fourth. I managed to get past Felipe Massa and kept the Ferrari in check behind me."

Willy Rampf, his technical director, said the Australian Grand Prix was the first pointer to where the individual teams stood but no more.

"That's because the Albert Park circuit with its distinctive characteristics is not very representative. And so I believe we won't get a reliable picture of the true balance of power until after the Malaysian Grand Prix.

"Due to its many corners, Sepang makes huge demands on the set-up of the cars," Rampf said.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli said the heat and humidity would test all the teams.

"Malaysia is an extremely difficult race and a big challenge for any driver... it's torrid over there -- almost 40 degrees (104ºF) and 80 or 90 percent humidity."

Flavio Briatore, Renault's managing director, was upbeat about the future after Fernando Alonso weaved his way through the field to finish fourth in Melbourne.

"It is an excellent omen for the start of the season. He (Alonso) drove a superb race, fighting all the way from the back of the field... in particular, his overtaking of the McLaren (Heikki Kovalainen) in the closing stages was spectacular.

"We still have to work, but it is encouraging to see that we are not the only team that needs to improve."

Honda's Jenson Button, who crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix, said they continued to make progress with the car.

"We have made a lot of improvements with the car during the weekend and I'm hoping for the same improvement over the next race (Malaysia)."

Honda team principal Ross Brawn said while their results in Melbourne were disappointing, they had qualified in midfield and Barrichello had shown they could fight for points.

"I think we have a good basis for the first three races until we can introduce the next development step for Spain."

Another team hoping for more improvement are Force India.

Driver Adrian Sutil said Melbourne was a big disappointment, especially since the opening laps had gone well.

"I could stay with the guys in front of me and could overtake to get up to 13th position, but then I had a hydraulic problem.

"We have to hope for more in Malaysia, but I think we showed an improvement over last year, particularly over the longer runs in practice, so I am confident we can really do better there." E-mail to a friend

All About Lewis Hamilton • Jarno Trulli • Nick Heidfeld • Jenson Button • Flavio Briatore • Kimi Raikkonen • Heikki Kovalainen