Lewis Hamilton believes next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix will offer a more reflective picture of the new Formula One season.

Hamilton and McLaren emerged from the opening race in Australia on Sunday delighted and relieved in equal measure.

In finishing second at Melbourne's Albert Park to world champion Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull, Hamilton and the team firmly put behind them the woes endured throughout a troubling pre-season.

Yet despite its scenic nature, the circuit is not a true racing track unlike Sepang that boasts long straights and tight hairpin bends.

"Sepang is a circuit I really love," said Hamilton.

"It's big, fast and wide with some really demanding high-speed corners where you can find a lot of time if you're really able to get the car working to its full extent.

"After the pace we showed in Melbourne, I think we can have another good race in Malaysia.

"Albert Park is a great track, but a circuit like Sepang is where the differences between the cars will start to become clearer."

For team principal Martin Whitmarsh, there is the fear the gaps to Red Bull could be even more exaggerated at Sepang.

Hamilton finished nearly 0.8secs behind Vettel's astonishing pole position lap on Saturday, and then 22 seconds adrift in the race.

"We don't think Melbourne showed us the best of our competitors' pace," warned Whitmarsh.

"So that only makes us more motivated to bring as much performance to the table as possible.

"On paper, it looks positive: we were pleased our Melbourne upgrade worked as expected.

"The car's performance around the high-speed elements of Albert Park suggests it will be able to cope around Sepang.

"Despite this, the reality is there was a gap to pole position, and we finished second and not first.

"Our target is to close that gap and get Lewis and Jenson (Button) into a position where they can win."