Lewis Hamilton will start the 348th race of his Formula 1 career this weekend. One more will make him the joint-second most experienced driver ever, behind only Fernando Alonso.

But the driver who has won more races than anyone in the series’ history, and jointly holds the record for most world championships, says he is still thrilled just to be able to drive F1 cars at the limit of their performance.

“Like anything, there is an element of being used to it,” said Hamilton. “So when we accelerate down to turn one out of the pit lane, there’s no fear there because it is part of what we do.

“I don’t know how it is for everyone else, but for me personally, when I get strapped in the first time and they start up the car, I get the same bubbly feeling inside. Then when everyone moves the tyre blankets away and you pull out into the pit lane and drive out into turn one and just do your first lap, I always get a huge thrill.”

Hamilton ended by far the longest win-less spell of his career earlier this season when he won at Silverstone. He said the fact he is still excited to drive the cars is part of what kept him racing.

“There’s so many moments that I still pinch myself that I still get to do this. It’s really something I wish you could all feel and experience.

“It’s probably why I’m still racing, that it’s not become such the norm that I don’t feel it. If I was numb to it, that would really suck and I’d probably be doing something else.

“But I’d have to fly fighter jets or something really low or something, I don’t know, to come anywhere near close.”

Earlier in his career Hamilton doubted he would still be racing in F1 in his forties. However this year he signed a multi-year contract to join Ferrari, which will keep him racing in F1 past his 40th birthday.

He said it “definitely does feel a little bit different” arriving in Monza knowing that the next time he races in Italy, he will be a Ferrari driver.

“It always feels special when you come here. We’re coming here at a decent time – the weather’s incredible today – and obviously the huge changes that were made to the track.”

“There’s always such incredible passion throughout Italy, just in the culture in general but particularly about racing and it’s always exciting just to see the fans that we’re going to see throughout the weekend,” he added. “The passion here and the excitement that they really bring to this race is really not particularly matched in too many places.”

The Monza fans have not always been welcoming towards Hamilton. His 2018 victory at the track was greeted with boos by some as it came at the expense of Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton said he’s unsure what kind of reception to expect this weekend. “The last couple of years, I mean, over the last few years, I’ve had a really warm welcome every time I’ve come, to be honest.

“There was one time when we were really fighting against Ferrari. I can’t remember what year that was, but even then, people were positive. There was never any negativity.”