F1 favourite Hamilton finds reasons to be positive

Lewis Hamilton (11/4 favourite with Stan James to win the Formula One Drivers Championship this year) believes he has reasons to be positive after his first drive in McLaren's new car, despite Felipe Massa (8/1) dominating again in Valencia.

The 2008 champion struggled for the early part of last season as McLaren had reliability issues and, although they were resolved later in the year allowing Hamilton to win two races, the Briton was unable to defend his title.

After his first drive of 2010, the 25-year-old is delighted with the feel of the new model and is looking forward to a much better start this time around.

"It's a different feeling compared to the first lap of the first test day of 2009," Hamilton said.

"It's a positive feeling. I've kept a close eye on the development of this car. I've seen it evolve and had input into it which is very exciting.

"I got out smiling. The problems I had [last year] I don't have in this car.

"The encouraging thing [about the new car] is the reliability. We've not really had many problems so that's a huge bonus for us."

Ferrari new boy Fernando Alonso, a double world champion, is second favourite at 3/1 in Stan James outright betting, while seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who has come out of retirement to race for Mercedes, is available at 4/1.

Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel is on offer at 13/2, while Briton Jenson Button, now partnering Hamilton at McLaren, is an 8/1 chance to retain his title.