You could tell the question came as a shock because Kimi Raikkonen's pale face flushed the same bright red as the sponsor's backdrop to the stage he was sitting on. Although it is well known that the Formula One world champion likes to celebrate with a drink or two, the subject is normally broached with subtlety. Not in Australia.

In the land of the barbecue and the “tinny”, where hard drinking is part of the culture and where Raikkonen begins the defence of his title on Sunday, the social problems caused by heavy drinking are being debated much as they are in Britain. So Raikkonen got it straight up.

“Binge-drinking is a very topical issue at the moment in Australia,” a local journalist told Raikkonen in Melbourne city centre. “You are renowned for liking a drink. How do you manage that within the demands of being an F1 racing driver?”

The Finnish Ferrari star, who, along with 21 rivals, will be completing the first official day of practice on the Albert Park street circuit today for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, could have disassociated himself from the question, but he did nothing of the sort. “I live as I've always been living,” he said. “Like any of my people, I like to go out. I don't see any problems with it.”

His questioner then said: “So how do you manage it? Do you abstain during the race season and then hit it hard at the end?”

While Ferrari staff rolled their eyes in disbelief, the champion fought on. “I do what I want,” he said. “I'm not responsible for telling people what I do off the racing track. I don't need to explain it. So far it seems to be working pretty well, so there is no reason to change it.”

The Finn goes into the race as favourite to win the championship, with Lewis Hamilton, the Briton, his principal rival, although Felipe Massa, Raikkonen's team-mate, cannot be discounted. Hamilton is the paradigm of the modern, clean-living professional sportsman and it would be hard to imagine him having to face questions about his drinking habits.

After weeks of interviews during the build-up to his second season in motor sport's toughest championship, even he was flagging when asked for the umpteenth time whether he was going to be stronger this year than last. Leaning on the balcony of a restaurant overlooking the beach where the locals were sunning themselves, Britain's brightest prospect in the sport for years agreed that he is stronger.

While some worry that the continuing investigation of McLaren Mercedes by the Italian police over the spy scandal can affect the way the team and Hamilton perform this year, the young man believes that the “playing conditions” for McLaren are easier.

“This year I think we have less baggage,” he said. “It's a clean slate for all of us and we can move on. All the politics that went on last year, it was like running the marathon with bricks in your bags, making it a lot harder and I don't feel we have that this year.”

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