His meteoric rise through the ranks to become the youngest world champion in
the history of Formula
One in only his second season, the significance of that achievement
— breaking down cultural as well as sporting barriers — is in danger of
being soured, or worse, overshadowed by what has happened since.
Wobbles in 2009 and 2010, when the car was not a match for his talents, were
warning signs but Hamilton’s
fall from grace reached its nadir last year, with off-track distractions
affecting his on-track performance to such an extent that he was up before
the beak nine times during the season.
There are those within the sport, and high up in it too, who feel that that
stardust has gone, that Hamilton will never again light up Formula One as he
did in 2007 and 2008. Hamilton is determined to prove them wrong.
He has, he says, made “corrections” in his life, which had become at once too
hectic and, at the same time, too lonely. He has moved from Zurich to
Monaco.
He has got back together with his girlfriend. He has got a new ‘minder’ —
experienced Formula One manager Didier Coton, who will be sub-contracted by
Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment to provide a calming presence at race
weekends.
In short, Hamilton feels he starts this season in better shape after going
back to basics.
“[In 2007] I was massively disciplined,” he says after a day spent lapping the Top
Gear test track in the GT3 version of McLaren’s new supercar.
“It’s not necessarily that I lost it — I was just massively disciplined back
then. My focus last year was spread over a wider range of things whereas now
it’s a lot more back to the way it used to be. It’s all about sacrifices.”
Pushed on what kind of sacrifices he is referring to, Hamilton hints that he
will be more prudent this season about the trips he makes to Los Angeles,
where his girlfriend lives, and cut back on the social scene.
“It’s about the travelling that you do, the decisions you make in your life,
keeping your focus when you’re training, not wasting energy,” he says.
“If I get a call from a friend saying, ‘why don’t you come out tonight’ I stay
at home ready to get up and train. Last year there were quite a few times
when I went out and enjoyed myself.”
Whether the focus is truly back remains to be seen but one thing is clear:
Hamilton will need it to be to wrestle back his crown.
The competition in 2012 looks ferocious with six drivers — a quarter of the
field — having won the world championship. Red Bull and the ever improving
Sebastian Vettel are on a roll, while Hamilton will undoubtedly have his
work cut out just winning the McLaren
battle.
Jenson Button became the first of Hamilton’s team-mates to get the better of
him in 2011 and the 32 year-old has visibly grown in confidence as a result.
This week, in perhaps the first mental hand grenade lobbed this year, Red Bull
team principal Christian Horner predicted that Button would repeat the trick
this year.
Hamilton claims not to be affected by such talk. “If it had been a case where
we had both been really competitive during the year and I had lost it
through fierce competitiveness, then I think it would have been quite tough
to deal with,” he says of being beaten by Button in 2011.
“But knowing that it had been a year when I had just thrown away points and
made very silly mistakes I wasn’t too devastated by it.”
Then, going off message, he adds: “At the end of the day he didn’t win the
world championship. That would have been even worse.”
Hamilton smiles. “You know, there are still many years ahead. I don’t plan on
[being beaten by Button] this year. I think my mind’s in a good place. And
when everything’s right as my uncle says, ‘When the stars are all aligned
they can sing’ or something like that!
“So I think when my stars are all aligned I can get some good results. It’s a
new year. A new chapter. A new chance.”
Lewis Hamilton: roller-coaster career
1995 – Age nine walks up to McLaren boss Ron Dennis and says: “Hi. I’m
Lewis Hamilton and one day I want to be racing your cars”.
1998 – Age 13 he becomes the youngest driver to be contracted by a
Formula One team when he is officially signed to the McLaren Driver
Development Support programme.
2007 – Goes within a point of winning the Formula One drivers’
championship in his debut season.
2008 – Becomes Formula One’s youngest ever world champion at 23 years
of age, making the decisive move on penultimate corner of final race in
Brazil.
2009 – The first real low of Hamilton’s career as he begins his title
defence with a poor car and is caught lying to race stewards – under
instruction from his team – in Melbourne, an episode dubbed ‘Liegate’.
2010 – Starts the season by ‘sacking’ his father, Anthony, as his
manager as he bids to become more independent. Middling season. Car not a
match for Red Bull.
2011 – Annus horribilis for Hamilton, who appoints Simon Fuller’s XIX
Entertainment to manage him but gets into repeated scrapes on and off the
track, eventually finishing fifth in standings. Beaten by his team-mate for
first time.
2012 – Moves to Monaco, gets back together with popstar girlfriend,
says season will mark “a new chapter” in his career.