Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain.

DPA/Barcelona

Lewis Hamilton is aiming for a fourth season victory in a row on Sunday to end his Spanish Grand Prix jinx and dethrone Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg atop the Formula One championship.

Hamilton was forced to retire in the season-opener in Australia and has been playing catch-up ever since because Rosberg won the Melbourne race.

He beat Rosberg for victory in Malaysia, Bahrain and China to cut the deficit to four points, and another top spot would take the Englishman to the top of the pile.

The Briton has two second-place finishes in Barcelona from 2007 and 2011, and was third there in his world title-winning 2008 campaign.

“After three great weekends ... I’m obviously keen to get on to the next one and continue that positive momentum into the next leg of the season,” Hamilton said.

“I’ve never won in Barcelona but I’m in a good place right now and I’m hoping that this will be the year, although it’s clear who the fans’ favourite will be!

“The circuit is fantastic, our car has performed well so far and I’m really looking forward to a good race.”

The crowd favourite at the Circuit de Catalunya is naturally Spanish star Fernando Alonso, who won in 2006 (then at Renault) and last year in what is also his - and Ferrari’s - last victory to date.

Alonso got his first season podium three weeks ago by coming third in China and hopes to carry the momentum into his home race. Also aiming for a first top spot of the season is four-time reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, who like Alonso has one third-place finish to his credit and trails Rosberg by 66 points in the standings.

Vettel won in Barcelona three years ago but like Alonso and others, he seemingly needs a perfect weekend to end Mercedes’ reign.

“There isn’t much opportunity to overtake, so getting a good start position in qualifying will be crucial,” said Vettel, who had to let teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass him in China as he is yet to reach the form of the past years.

Alonso said after his podium in China it is “still a long way to go and we cannot promise anything for Barcelona. We will give 100 per cent again and we will fight - but in terms of result we need to remain very calm.”

All teams have used the first three-week break in the season to improve their cars ahead of the first race in Europe.

However, that includes Mercedes whose technical director Paddy Lowe is aware that a good result in Barcelona can be an indication for the rest of the season because the design of the 4.655-kilometre course forces a car to be competitive in every aspect.

“It’s often said that a car which performs well in Barcelona will be a great car for the season, so we’re looking forward to seeing where we stand relative to the competition,” Lowe said.

“There has been no sense of complacency or backing off just because our car has shown strong performance in the opening few races.

“The objective is to not only match, but to better the development rate of our rivals and to build on our lead in both championships.”