No time to rest

Lewis Hamilton is planning for more consistency next year. The new world champion’s mind is already on the next round of testing for McLaren, which is likely to be held in December, writes Alan Henry.

It was business as usual for Lewis Hamilton after the final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix. The new world champion’s mind was already on the next round of testing for McLaren which is likely to come some time in December.

The notion of Hamilton sitting on a sun-soaked beach for the four months running up to next year’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne paints an unlikely image to those who know him. Despite his unyielding competitiveness and relentless speed behind the wheel of a Grand Prix car Hamilton is remarkable in his sheer normality and uncomplicated demeanour.

“Next year we want to have more consistency,” he said after finishing fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix to clinch the drivers’ championship by one point.

Hamilton puts great store by family values and his father, Anthony, is always at the races keeping an eye on his son’s progress. It is only 12 years ago that Hamilton Sr was having to work at three jobs in order to fund his young son’s kart racing programme.

The two men are close without living in each other’s pockets and Hamilton acknowledged he would never have made any progress in motor racing had it not been for his father’s determination. “He’s done all the work to get me where I am,” said Lewis.

“He is a great family man and I would not have won the World Championship without him. But of course he is also a father and can be a bit of a pain sometimes.”

A day after the Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton Sr was in a reflective mood as he mulled over how far his son had come. “When we started out I was earning £14,000 and spending £1,600 on the mortgage. “We fell into go-karting as it was something to bring the family together and we had no idea where it would lead to. We weren’t following anyone and there were no aspirations. It was just a great thing to do one afternoon.

“Even for the first two, three years we didn’t think anything would come of it, even though Lewis was competitive from the start. At the time we were just enjoying it because we didn’t have any money and I didn’t have a good job.

“We struggled as a family. I just thought the best we could do was to make Lewis as decent a young man as we could so that when he was at school he would work harder and maybe do business studies. The idea was he that he was never going to be a racing driver. We have no sporting people in our family at all. But then one thing led to another and from then on I never really had any doubts he would make it. None at all.”

Hamilton was already looking forward to next season and the ways in which he might improve his performance. He added: “Every year you have episodes which help you build on your experience and I want to do everything better next year. I don’t anticipate changing too much. When I am back in Europe I will have a little vacation but basically it is all now preparing for next year. I love racing, love getting in the car and all the satisfaction. Just to get one championship has been incredibly hard, so hopefully the second will be easier.”

Hamilton, the sport’s youngest champion at 23, was keen not to be drawn into comparisons with other drivers and dismissed talk of matching Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles. “I don’t plan to try to reach any of his records,” he said. “They are not something that appeal to me. I just love racing, getting in the car and winning championships. That’s the most fulfilling achievement, so records are not so important.”

Ron Dennis, the McLaren principal, believes Hamilton’s maiden world title will help propel him on to further championship triumphs. “The chance of the momentum fading is very slim,” said Dennis. “But he has to have the car and it is our intention to give it to him, so I can see no reason why the momentum of his career is going to falter. He has become even more mature in and out of the car and the experience gained from this (title win) is another stepping stone in his career.”

Dennis said that the pressure of the final race had taken its toll on the Briton at Interlagos. Brazilian comedians made a fool of Hamilton at a sponsor’s function and he was roundly jeered and booed by the pro-Felipe Massa crowd.

“It has been great to see him with such a big smile on his face,” added Dennis. “The most difficult thing in the world is to drive having to avoid every single mistake. In the end the outcome was storybook. A fantastic outcome to a difficult season.”