F1 news - Lewis Hamilton: I have mental strength to be a champion

ByTNT Sports

Updated 22/11/2018 at 11:19 GMT

Lewis Hamilton believes he is mentally tougher since winning his first world championship a decade ago.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Brazilian Grand Prix

Image credit: Getty Images

“I think in 2008 I was still really a kid, I was still maturing,” said the five-times world champion Hamilton ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

I naturally had all the talent that I needed but not really had the stability, the core strength mentally and physically, to take all the different blows from all the different angles and handle them and still stay balanced.

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"Now, with age and experience, I’m able to do that. There’s not really anything you can particularly throw at me that I can’t handle. I still have that ability that I had as a kid but I have the mentality side of things particularly and the stability and that centred approach. [It’s] what allows my to drive and handle myself and steer myself through the year the way I do.

Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after winning the 2008 FIA Formula One Championship (Reuters)

Image credit: Reuters

The British icon, 33, became F1 world champion for a fifth time in Mexico and believes he can cope with the pressure as he continues his dominance of the sport.

“I think to this point in my life, this is the highest point of my career in terms of my own performance, how I perform with the team.

But I do believe there’s always areas to improve so we’ll definitely look at the season at the end of this year and there’ll always be areas you look at. We didn’t win every single race, some mishaps particularly at the beginning of the year. There’s always room to improve so I expect to do that. That’s my expectation of myself.

“I’ve got to work this winter, it’ll be a slightly amended approach. Of course you’ve got to dig deep, you’ve got these young kids that are coming in, Leclerc going into Ferrari who’s hungry to prove a point. You’ve got Max who’s still hungry to prove a point. And so I’ve got to make sure that I’m still there.”

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