Lewis: I've grown as a man and a driver

Sunday 8th November 2009

Lewis Hamilton believes the hurdles he faced this year have made him a better man and a driver.

The 2008 World Champion had relatively poor season. His fifth-place finish in the Drivers' Championship was mainly down to his late-season form while he was also involved in some off-track controversies.

However, the McLaren driver says this year's difficulties will only make the team stronger next year.

"I've learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back," he told his official website.

"I've grown as a man, and as a driver - I've faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did - even from one year ago.

"I also think we are a much closer group now, too. We've known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter - we've been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better. That's something I really appreciate - and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season."

Besides having one of the slowest cars at the start of the year, Hamilton was also disqualified from the Australian classification while McLaren was stripped of the points for "deliberately misleading" race stewards and the Englishman admits it was one of his toughest moments this year.

"The first difficulty we faced this year was during testing: we knew the car wasn't the fastest but, at the Barcelona test in week 11, it became really clear to us that we were struggling and we just didn't have the pace of the frontrunners. I remember phoning Ron and Martin and explaining to them that we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to turn MP4-24 into a race winner.

"That was a difficult call, but Ron and Martin gave me their full support and we actually started to look at a rescue plan immediately - there was no waiting. So what was a difficult experience at first actually turned into a positive one.

"The other tough moment happened not long after, in Melbourne and Malaysia. And that was a difficult time for me personally - but I strongly believe that I used that experience to grow as a person and to become stronger through it. I'm a firm believer that every experience you have - even the bad ones - help to define and build your character. You can't change the past, but you can definitely learn from it, and I overcame that situation in Melbourne, I had the courage and conviction to man up about it in Malaysia and, ultimately, I came out of it stronger."

Your Comments

mrkjf

"well put polomint."

polomint

"You know there is a real champion on track when you either love the guy or you hate the guy, reading most of the posts you can clearly see that pattern.

I couldn't stand MS when he was at Ferrari (still not a Ferrari fan either) but as a grown up you have to respect the fact they produced a fine car and he drove the hell out of it... I'm a Fan of Lewis he has that aggression to driver the hell out of the car I think if you watch the next 5 years and with experience he will be one hell of a driver..

...Which is going to upset a few people who aren't grown up to respect that."

_f1boffin_

"PlanetF1 is dodgy sometimes. If you heard/read the full interview then you will know how selective they are. Its not all I-I-I as we are made to believe here."

deepwater330

"And here was me thinking I was being very even handed about Hamilton past and present. You see, I don't buy the 'not arrogant, but confident' line. Those who are confident, and LH has every justification to be so, rarely find the need to make continuous noise. I conclude therefore that he is either enticed unwittingly into making these constant announcements, or he just likes too much the sound of his own voice, or, that there is indeed a niggling insecurity in there somewhere."

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