The legends whom Lewis Hamilton would emulate met in the paddock for a brief chat — the tartan hat of Sir Jackie Stewart peak to peak with the equally trademark red cap of Niki Lauda. The decades have not dimmed a bond begotten by each man’s achievement in winning the Formula One world drivers’ title three times. Only seven others could ever make that claim: Fangio, Brabham, Piquet, Prost, Senna, Schumacher and Vettel. Here in sunlit Melbourne, Hamilton began practice for the Australian Grand Prix at the start of a 20-round season in which the British driver hopes to add his name to that exclusive club. Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to retain the Formula One title after last season's triumph . Hamilton took part in Friday's Formula One Grand Prix practice session ahead of Sunday's season opener . Michael Schumacher, pictured in 2006, is the most successful Formula One driver with seven world titles . The first race of the 2015 Formula One schedule begins in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday . Drivers’ champion . Lewis Hamilton. A great driver in a great car. His one and only threat is Nico Rosberg, poised and calculating coolly for any mistake. Constructors’ champion . Put your weekly shopping budget, your mortgage and Johnny’s school fees on Mercedes. Surprise driver . Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, 17 and 166 days tomorrow. A brilliant talent. My second choice: Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull. The race I am most looking forward to? The saying in F1 is those that start with ‘M’ are the best to be at: Melbourne (my absolute favourite), Monte Carlo, Montreal and Monza. Mexico returns this year. Hamilton pondered the word ‘legend’ and said: ‘I hope when I have retired and am much, much older, perhaps in 30 years, a kid might use that phrase for me. ‘I want to win this year. There’s a championship there for the taking. Damn it, I want to win it! I want to go and grab it. More than ever. At least as much as last year, and hopefully even more.’ He will certainly have a car capable of accomplishing that task. Mercedes are in a parallel universe of speed and reliability, according to pre-season testing. It again promises to be a straight fight between him and his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Lauda is their boss at Mercedes. Stewart has been a critic of Hamilton from time to time. He thinks the word ‘legend’ can only be applied long after a driver has hung up his helmet. ‘That is how it works with many halls of fame in America,’ he said. ‘Time waits to confer its judgment.’ The debate about Hamilton is always keen. He fuels this by his actions. He has taken to posting pictures of himself brooding and pouting, half-dressed and self-absorbed on the photo-based website Instagram. One such picture had Hamilton standing in a graffiti-lined alley in Melbourne looking up to the sky with his hands clasped in prayer. These fine exhibits of modern art are being undertaken by Dan ‘Spinz’ Forrest, a bald and bearded music producer who seems newly to have attached himself to Hamilton. He is walking around the paddock with a camera in his hand. Never mind that, it is Hamilton’s heavy and skilled right foot that will define him over the next eight-and-a-half months. But his compatriot Jenson Button believes there is still room for Hamilton to improve on his championship-winning form of last season. Hamilton celebrated in Abu Dhabi after winning the 2014 Formula One Championship . Mercedes F1 team showed their support for Red Nose Day by wearing merchandise on Friday . Mercedes' drivers Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg both also wore T-shirts in support of Red Nose Day . ‘He was most inconsistent last year,’ said Button, whose McLaren was three seconds slower than Mercedes in practice. ‘In racing, Lewis was stronger than ever. In qualifying, he seemed weaker than ever. It was a different Lewis. This year, with more confidence, he’ll be more consistent in qualifying and a stronger driver.’ Rosberg’s qualities should not be enough to stop an on-form, all-firing Hamilton becoming the first Briton to win consecutive titles, but the German is calm and focused on his retaliative challenge. ‘Lewis was a little bit stronger than me last year,’ admitted Rosberg, who is due to become a father in August. ‘He’s been working on himself during the winter and I have been working on myself. ‘I’m not at my peak Formula One performance yet. Being an F1 driver is multi-faceted. It’s not just about turning the steering wheel in the best possible way. It’s outside the car, too, having your whole life around you sorted so you are focused and have the energy to do the perfect job in the car. Coming second has motivated me for this year.’ Hamilton wants to remembered as a 'legend' after he has retired from Formula One . The 30-year-old takes time out in the garage during the first practice session of the new season . Sauber's former Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde has abandoned his legal action against the team . The season starts with Formula One in a curious, but entirely new, state of disrepair. Manor, the team that rose from the bones of Marussia, look unlikely to race because, among other things, they do not have the software required to run their cars. It seems the hard drives were wiped to prepare them to be auctioned when the team’s assets were due to be sold and they now need to reinstall the missing programs. But the biggest drama was at Sauber, where Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde is suing the team for breaking his contract. A court in Melbourne has ruled in his favour, saying he should race. However, he cannot do so because he has not been granted a super-licence. He still put on overalls yesterday and was fitted for his seat, unavailingly. Sauber sat out the first practice session but took part in the second in the form of their two named drivers Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. The squabbling parties called a truce of sorts this morning Melbourne time, with Van der Garde abandoning his legal action and averting, for now at least, the threat of bailiffs seizing the team’s assets. DAVID COULTHARD . ‘Lewis appears to be going through a transition in his off-track life. I see he is negotiating his own contract, doing music in the future and has split up with Nicole (Scherzinger), and all of these things have an influence on your life which may be a positive or negative. 'It will be interesting to see now he is a wealthy champion and got lots of opportunities whether the absolute focus is still on the job. Nico now has the experience of battling for a world championship. He went into last year with a good car, everything was going great, then he had the collision in Spa, his team told him he was a bad boy and he was getting booed. I think he will be stronger.’ DAMON HILL . ‘Nico has talents that are slightly more subtle and less obvious than Lewis but I think he is going to have to invent a new Nico to counter his team-mate. The championship was delivered by Lewis, so if Mercedes have to hedge one way or the other, they will go for Lewis. 'I can’t see Lewis getting distracted. He can see the prizes, he collects his trophies and is very proud of his success and he still talks as if he is stunned by his own success. He will be difficult to beat this year.’ MARTIN BRUNDLE . ‘If Lewis had finished his career with one championship it would have been a travesty but if he wins a third he becomes one of the all-time greats. 'He has got to win consecutive championships which is always perceived to be particularly difficult, but he is going to have a dominant car again so it is Nico Rosberg who he has got to race. Unless Nico has found a way to raise his game, what is going to put Lewis under pressure apart from himself?’ JOHNNY HERBERT . ‘I don’t think it’s a given for Lewis. He can’t say “I beat him last year and it’s going to be fine, I will be able to do those runs of winning four races on the trot again and everything will be hunky dory” — It won’t be like that. Lewis will think, “Yes, I’m quicker”. Is Rosberg capable of doing it? I think he is, that’s why I say Lewis cannot rest on his laurels because he will be there for sure.’
Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to win his third Formula One title . Only seven other drivers have ever won more than two F1 titles . Hamilton is gearing up for Sunday's season opener in Melbourne .