Hamilton focused on title challenge

Lewis Hamilton lived the dream last season in what turned out to be a nightmare for McLaren.

Now, a year on after the team were sensationally fined £50m, a less-stressed Hamilton is determined to turn that dream into the ultimate fantasy by winning the Formula One world title.

It was on the Thursday of last year’s Belgian Grand Prix Hamilton found himself in Paris at the headquarters of world governing body, the FIA, rather than preparing for the race in Spa.

The 23-year-old opted to support McLaren in their defence of the spying scandal that had engulfed the team’s season from which they came within a whisker of being thrown out of the championship.

Instead, the team were forced to pay a sporting record fine and stripped of all constructors’ points, affecting a young Hamilton in his rookie campaign.

This season the pressure is still there, but of a different kind as it is merely a case of handling the title scenario, and not coping with everything else also going on in the background.

The ingredients are there for Hamilton to go on and win his maiden championship, and he knows it.

“There’s a huge difference this year compared to last,” Hamilton said.

“We’ve moved on. There’s a much better feeling being here, and we are challenging for the world championship, not just trying to stay in it.

“Last year when I walked the track I didn’t even know if I would be racing, whereas this year we don’t have any of those stresses.

“We’re a strong team with a real good atmosphere throughout, and we are 100 per cent committed to winning the championship.”

Although Hamilton maintains he personally coped with the maelstrom swirling around him, he felt deeply for what the team were going through.

“I don’t let anything distract me,” Hamilton explained.

“Mentally I have always been very strong, but when you have that kind of thing in the back of your mind, you worry about your team.

“I’m emotionally attached to my team, and when you see stuff that’s going on...I won’t go into it.

“We were there to race, but at the time it had all moved out of my path.

“Usually I’m up for a race on the Wednesday night, and then on the Thursday I do my track walk and so on.

“But on the Thursday of last year’s Belgian Grand Prix I was in Paris because I wanted to show my support.

“I saw all what was going on, and I thought it was pretty pathetic really. We’re here to race, it’s motor sport, and it’s supposed to be a fun sport.”

At one point last season Hamilton even questioned whether he wanted to remain in a sport that was so politically orientated.

Naturally, it was heat of the moment stuff, and lessons have been learned which this year are standing him in good stead.

“Everything was new to me. It was my first time in a Formula One car,” said Hamilton, who heads into this year’s grand prix in Belgium with a six-point lead over Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

“To be here for the first time, and there are other things going on within the team, you feel bad for the team.

“All you want to do is pull through for them and stay strong for them, and that’s what Fernando (Alonso) and I did.

“We stayed strong for the team, and that’s why we were reasonably competitive, and why we managed to hold out for the rest of the season.”

It ultimately culminated in Hamilton losing the title by a point to Kimi Raikkonen in the final race in Brazil.

But in many respects, it was the penultimate race in China where he blew his best chance, pushing for an unnecessary win on worn tyres and sliding into a gravel trap as he trundled down the pit lane.

On this occasion, Hamilton readily concedes he is no longer a glory hunter, and instead is more points orientated as he chases the main prize.

“Last year I wasn’t focused on the championship,” Hamilton added.

“I was so happy to be here. It was all very overwhelming for me. I was living the dream.

“This year I’m a fully-fledged Formula One driver and I am here to win the championship, and whatever that takes.

“That means scoring points and staying out in front, so I have to make sure I finish the remaining six races with as many points as possible.”