Lewis Hamilton opens up on his 'complex life under a magnifying glass'
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he has ‘a complex life’ which he lives ‘under a magnifying glass’ but the reigning Formula One world champion believes he has the strength to deal with the pressure and has proved that over his career.
The Mercedes driver sealed a sixth F1 world title earlier this month, moving ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio in the all-time list and behind only the seven-time champion Michael Schmuacher.
But in an interview with the BBC, Hamilton expanded on the comments he had made on Instagram after the Japanese Grand Prix in October when he said the world was “messed up” and he felt like “giving up on everything”.
“Most of the time, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it was an emotional post, which is not always good to do. It just felt like I was banging my head against the wall and not gaining ground.
“There is a lot of push-back on a lot of things I do, and a lot of questioning of everything I do and say. You live your life under a magnifying glass. And the pressure for anyone that’s in the limelight … we’re only human, so at some stage you’re going to buckle a little bit.
“But I always say it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up. And I really turned that negativity into a positive and came back and won that next race. And you’ll probably see if you look back in the history of the times I’ve often had those difficult phases, I’ve often won the next races. That’s where my strength lies.”
“I would say I have a very complex life. I’m sure we all have complex lives. But I can’t talk about absolutely how complex it is. I am trying to be more open about that, as you’ll see on my social. But there is a line where it’s the limit and for me personally that one [after Japan] there was slightly over the limit.”
Hamilton, 34, reiterated he is not entertaining any thoughts of retiring from F1, and how younger drivers competing against him pushes him to succeed.
“The core of what I do is that I love racing. I love the challenge. I love arriving knowing I have got these incredibly talented youngsters who are trying to beat me and outperform me, outsmart me, and I love that battle that I get into every single year.
“The thing is I never got into it for money,” the Mercedes driver says. “Of course it is great that that piles up no problem. That is a bonus. As long as those things don’t become the lead factor of what I do.”