Hamilton: You can't get excited at this point

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton returned from his off-season break in Colorado and got back down business on day two of Formula 1 testing at Jerez in southern Spain, ending the day satisfied with the car Mercedes have produced for the 2015 season.

Speaking at the end of the second day of testing, where he was behind the wheel of the W06, Hamilton said, "That was a satisfying day. We did a lot of laps and I got a feel for the car quite quickly. We're in the first days of testing so it never feels that great as the car is at the worst it will be all season."

"But it feels the same as it did last year which is a good thing. A little more downforce maybe but otherwise it handles exactly the same. The balance obviously wasn't perfect as we're not working on setup yet, so it could be a lot better."

"But the priority right now is to put in the laps, not set fast times, and there were lots of positives," said the Briton who last year won 11 races on the way to his second world title.

Hamilton ended the day at Jerez fourth fastest, but with the most laps to his credit, "We got good mileage and hopefully we'll get even more in the next two days. Testing isn't the exciting part as a driver - I live to go racing."

"This is where you build your foundations for the year and we're all working hard to understand the car. Everything from drivability to tyres you have to learn now to stand you in good stead for the season."

"You can't get excited at this point as there's a long way to go before Melbourne but there's a really good energy in the team. Everybody is feeling positive and working hard but we're basing nothing on last year. We start again with the same aim as everyone else - to win. I can't wait to get to that first race," concluded Hamilton.