Hamilton's new project? 'I'm ready to go into space!'

Lewis Hamilton may have hit stratospheric highs in his F1 career to date – but the Briton may have his eye on reaching for the stars more literally.

Speaking during the Australian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton revealed that he had been speaking to SpaceX founder Elon Musk for some time, and that the Briton was keen for a visit into outer space.

"It's not the easiest thing to speak to someone like that, because his mind is expanded, it's on such another level, you know, so I get all nervous when I'm talking to him," Hamilton said of his interactions with Musk.

"Of course, I talked to him about did we land on the Moon? Where are we going next?"

However, Hamilton added that he wasn't wild about going stratospheric any time soon, perhaps mindful of last week's test launch of a SpaceX Starship in which the rocket exploded in mid-air a few minutes after lift-off.

"I am going, yes, at some stage, but I'll let some other people go first because those things blow up on the way up..." said Hamilton.

"[Musk]'s talking about going to Mars, but I'm ready to go to space at any stage. I told him that I'd fly the ship, but I think it's all automated!"