Lewis Hamilton has revealed for the first time exactly why the number 44 means so much to him.
It has become synonymous with the British racing superstar since rules changed to allow drivers to choose their own race number.
The five-time world champion failed to make the most of his record-equalling eighth Australian Grand Prix pole position nearly a fortnight ago.
But as practice begins in Bahrain on Friday, Hamilton has let fans in on why he has such a fascination with the number.
“The number came from my karting days," he said. "When we arrived at my first race, I looked at my dad’s number plate and it had ‘44’ on it, and then it just became my lucky number.
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“I hope one day there will be a movie about it.”
Hamilton wasn't downbeat despite his slow start to the F1 season.
"It was a solid weekend, I just have to work on my starts more. There wasn't a problem, I just didn't get a good one," he accepted.
"It’s a good weekend for the team so I have to be happy for everyone, and Valtteri drove an incredible race today, and deserved it.
“It’s a great start to the year and it's what we could have hoped for for the team.
"I had Max covered behind me, and I had some ideas of where the pace went, but I'll go through it with my engineers afterwards. I’ll just train and work hard to stay and improve for next time."
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Bottas got his 2019 campaign off to the perfect start at Albert Park and the Finn said it was his greatest performance to date.
He said: "It was my best race ever so far so I'm really pleased. The race start was the key moment, I had the pace and it would've been a shame to be stuck behind another car.
"The car was amazing, truly enjoyable. Twenty-six is better than 25 and in the end I got it [the point for fastest lap]. It is a bit risky with worn tyres to go for it, but it was worth it.
“Every point will count and I couldn't be happier for myself or the team."
