Lewis Hamilton says that he considers his new season at MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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to be a marathon, rather than a sprint. He is ready to be patient with his new team if good performance does not come immediately. 

"This is a marathon, not a sprint. It's the long haul. I hope that this year we can be competitive.

"If we arrive at the first race and we are in front, it's going to be spectacular, but if we are not we know we just have to keep working at it," said Hamilton.

Hamilton says that he has not driven the 2013 car yet, and it will not be revealed until February 4. Hamilton says that he plans to drive the 2012 and 2013 cars back-to-back in order to better understand the differences for this season. 

Still, Hamilton predicts that the new season will be difficult to win this season. The new rules are very similar to last season, and it is unlikely that Mercedes would be able to improve enough to jump to the top of the pack. 

"Knowing that Mercedes were 1.1 seconds behind in Brazil, I think it was almost two seconds at Suzuka, so to see that fluctuation you've got to be very understanding that with an evolution of the car is going to be difficult for them in three months to gain two seconds or whatever it is," said Hamilton. 

Mercedes appears to be trying to outspend other teams this season for improvement. In addition to Hamilton, they have hired Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff as executive managers for the team.

The team wants to propel itself from being the best of the middle pack teams to a real contender. For the last two seasons, it has been over 100 points away from the next best team in the World Constructors' Championship. 

Source: Autosport