Hamilton vows to 'take all the risks' in Verstappen Australian GP hunt

Lewis Hamilton has declared he will 'take all of the risks' to score an unlikely victory at the Australian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion has been highly critical of the Mercedes W14 with Silver Arrows' 2023 machinery lacking pace to Red Bull.

But the picture has changed in Australia with George Russell and Hamilton lining up second and third on the grid, behind only Max Verstappen.

As was the case last year, Mercedes has so far demonstrated stronger pace on race day than in qualifying, something that has led Hamilton to be particularly bullish in his approach.

Asked if he'll go 'full-on attack into turn one' against Verstappen, Hamilton said: "Yeah, flat out. I'm taking all of the risks today!"

As for where Mercedes' pace has suddenly come from, he conceded: "I really don't know, honestly.

"I'm just really grateful for everyone back at the factory continuing to churn along, just continuing to work because bit by bit, we're starting to extract more from this car.

"We still have a long way to go. You'll see the Red Bull (being) probably too hard for us to hold on to today but we're still going to give it everything we've got."

READ MORE: F1 2023 Australian Grand Prix starting grid with penalties applied

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