Lewis Hamilton confessed last night that he has fallen out of love with Formula One after more than two years being buffeted by the intense political storms that have threatened to blow his fledgeling career off track. “I just feel knocked about by it all,” Hamilton said.
Speaking of his disillusionment for the first time since the “liar-gate” affair that forced him to make a dramatic public apology, the world champion said that he was tired of the sport’s politics, which have taken up so much of his time since he joined the grid in 2007 as a rookie driver with McLaren Mercedes.
Hamilton’s career seems to have been neatly book-ended by sagas ending in “gate”: “spy-gate”, which led to a record $100 million (now about £65 million) fine for his team after they were found guilty of stealing Ferrari secrets, gave way to “liar-gate”, when Hamilton misled stewards after the Australian Grand Prix in March.
A chastened Hamilton admitted it was hard to dispel from his mind the impact of the constant battles with officialdom. “It’s got to be a similar feeling to anyone who goes to jail but feels they shouldn’t be behind bars,” the British driver, 24, said. “That is the feeling I have had, although I know what happened in Australia was wrong.
“I just feel knocked about by it all. I want to be a driver – I am not in the sport to be a politician.” Times Online
“It hasn’t affected my driving. I won’t allow anything to affect my driving. But it affects your life, it affects the way you are. I used to enjoy Formula One and part of that has been taken away from me.”
Hamilton currently sits seventh in the drivers standings on only nine points, 32 shy of championship-leading compatriot Jenson Button.
Hamilton added: “I never imagined there would be so much politics when I came into Formula One. It definitely was a shock. There has been too much time taken up with it.”
“Unfortunately, it is the way the Formula One world works for some reason. It’s much nicer in the lower categories, where all the people are there just to race and the teams are there just to race.” AFP
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