Even paddling a kayak through the Melbourne surf, Lewis Hamilton had to be the winner yesterday.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver limbered up for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix by beating local sporting celebrities and new Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen in a light-hearted race.

The beach event, organized by the team's sponsor, may have just been fun in the sun, but the Briton left no doubt that his competitive spirit was raging as fiercely as ever a year on from his debut.

Last year he came third in Melbourne, after leading for four laps and overtaking double world champion Fernando Alonso at the first corner, in his first grand prix. This year, he said the aim was to win.

"That is the plan," he said. "We've been working very hard through winter, making sure the training is even better but also preparing the car.

"I feel we have even a better opportunity this weekend than we did last year at this time. So going into the weekend I feel even more positive."

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn who beat Hamilton by a single point to take the title in the final race of last year, won in Melbourne in 2007 and will be the favorite.

Hamilton said his own race last year had been a key moment in his career.

"I wasn't really nervous but everyone was expecting me to fail," he said of a debut that led to nine podium finishes in a row and four wins.

"I started fourth and was going to come out of turn one in about eighth place if I didn't do something about it and I made a real split decision. It was right there and then, I had to make the quickest decision ever," he added. "I went down the outside and I managed to come out (of the first corner) in third place and I think that was one of the decisive moments in the year."