Hamilton says title hunger doubled by Ferrari fight

Lewis Hamilton says his hunger to win the world championship after defeat last season has "frickin' doubled" in the face of a challenge from Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton to the 2016 drivers' title after a tense decider in Abu Dhabi. With Rosberg having retired, Hamilton's main rival this season appears to be Sebastian Vettel after the German took an impressive victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. With the early signs suggesting he will be fighting another team for the championship – something he claims is "much more fun" – Hamilton says his desire is as big as ever.

"I had a fantastic fight the last few years and obviously last year was the closest that I had," Hamilton said. "I want to win the world championship more than ever before, and while that hunger last year you would think the hunger could not be anymore, it has frickin' doubled."

The Briton says he has been keeping up his active lifestyle away from Formula 1 but is proud of the discipline he has shown when it comes to training for the more physical cars this year.

"I have been touring. I have been out enjoying myself. This is what I always do. I think people judge off things they see and if you look at previous years I arrived at the first race just as fit. I was on pole position the last four years [in Melbourne]. I always arrive fit and ready, so none of those I do are a distraction and I have done just as much this year. I have got a job to make sure I am fit – the fitness levels are even higher than before. So for sure I have applied myself better.

"I went to Asia before I trained. The only difference is now I am deciding to be home. Definitely my discipline has gone up in terms of my training and how specific I am with my diet, sleep, all of these different things. Every year you try to improve but I would say I have taken a good step this year.

"For example, I trained myself this year. That was a challenge I set myself: 'Can you have the motivation to do it yourself and get yourself ready and turn up?' I have and I am going to continue to work, because there are going to be some really tough races this year."