2017 will be painful for everyone, predicts Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has said that he expects to find the 2017 Formula One world championship a painful experience, as a result of the new tyre and downforce regulations being brought in that should see cars lapping up to three or four seconds faster.

That means the drivers are going to be experiencing more violent forces on their bodies than ever before, and Hamilton said that he's sure he will be feeling the effects.

"Whoever it is, it doesn't matter how fit you are and how hard you trained, you get in that car and it beats the crap out of you - it just does," Hamilton told reports this week, as Mercedes launched its new W08 hybrid.

"There'll be a muscle you didn't even know you had, deep down under your rib cage, and you're like 'what the hell?'

Alonso takes a dig at Hamilton

Hamilton is due to get his first proper taste of the new car this week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where all the teams are participating in four days of pre-season testing.

Hamilton's new Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas will be behind the wheel of the car on Monday morning, with Hamilton getting his turn in the afternoon.

"After the first day I'll know exactly where I'm weak," Hamilton predicted. "Through those testing days you figure those weak areas out."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.