I should be SO LEWcky..

HAMILTON: KEEPING UP WITH MAX IS KYLIE UNLIKELY

- SIMON CASS

LEWIS Max Verstappen "another HAMILTON admits remains in league" despite the seven-time world champion taking second place at a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.

Watched by Aussie singer Kylie Minogue, Mercedes produced a much improved display, with George Russell and Hamilton getting past pole sitter Verstappen at the start.

But asked if he could have prevented the Red Bull star from landing his 37th grand prix win, Hamilton, who claimed his first podium of the season, said: "I don't think we would have, Max is in another league.

"His car is so fast and he passed me halfway down the straight and he was several metres ahead.

"I don't know how it is so quick on the straight, it is just insane.

"We got a lot of work to do because they came flying past and disappeared." Verstappen's margin of victory over Hamilton stood at less than two tenths of a second.

But had it not been for Kevin Magnussen clouting the concrete in his Haas to halt the race for a second time, Verstappen could have been showered and changed by the time Hamilton crossed the line.