Abu Dhabi: Lewis Hamilton has been in a class of his own this season. He has been incredibly dominant in both qualifying and race which has elevated his stature as one of the finest F1 drivers the world has ever seen.
The Briton, who has sealed the 2017 Championship well before the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, was of the view that his success had a lot to do with the psychological edge he had over his nearest rival Sebastian Vettel.
“The mental side of things was the key to this year,” Hamilton told CNN’s The Circuit.
- Lewis Hamilton » 2017 World champion
“That really is the case for a lot of top athletes competing. It’s the smallest thing, we’re talking about small percentages. I think that’s really, for me, been the biggest difference between us.”
The season started with Vettel holding the edge with early victories before Hamilton unleashed a blistering run of form, winning five times in six races to turn a 14-point deficit into a 66-point lead in the space of eight weeks.
“I think I came to the team with a good energy but my work ethic is so much better today, so I would have applied that at the beginning. I probably would have five championships right now, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Losing the championship last year enabled me to be the driver and the man I am today,” said Hamilton, who felt that he had managed to gain respect in the paddock amongst his rivals with his conduct and performance.
“It’s really come to light the respect I have received from certain drivers, and that’s something I really, really appreciate because naturally you want to be respected by your peers ... I have that respect for other people that I race with. To hear that reflected and reciprocated, that’s a great feeling.”
Hamilton, however, brushed aside that the company of Nico Rosberg, who won the Drivers’ Championship last year, had do anything with his transformation.
“No. Zero. From all my teammates that I’ve raced with, I don’t generally take much from them. I’d say probably the only teammate I’ve ever really learnt something from would have been Fernando [Alonso] -- it was my first year in F1 … After that, I would say I was able to have the experience, so I never felt I was taking anything from another driver. I was just always trying to enhance and unlock my own abilities.”
There are already rumours doing rounds of Hamilton ending up at Ferrari but the champion put that to rest saying, “Nope. Don’t have any doubts — just have to be very, very good at negotiating …”
