Hamilton Admits 2009 Failure Gained Him More Respect

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton might have a hard time scoring some consistent point for McLaren Mercedes this year – although that's hardly his fault – but the reigning world champion might very well benefit from his struggling season in terms of driver-to-driver relationships within the F1 paddock. While admitting he didn't paid too much attention to this during his first 2 years at McLaren, Hamilton said he is determined to turn the page in 2009.

The British driver was previously involved in one of the biggest scandals of the 2009 season – the lie-gate – following his lying to the FIA stewards on an on-track event during the Australian Grand Prix. It was only then that he realized the other drivers are not very fond of him, as there were few voices in the F1 paddock show support for his situation. Curiously enough, it was only former teammate and rival Fernando Alonso who publicly defended the McLaren driver.

“I just kept myself to myself when we went to drivers' briefings and I think they took that as a sign of disrespect, but I never meant that. I've worked hard this year to try and rebuild those relationships and I think it's better now,” said Hamilton in an interview with the British media, as reported by the GMM news agency.

The McLaren driver was continuously criticized for his cold relationship with his fellow F1 drivers in recent years. While Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella and Nico Rosberg were known as “poker buddies”, Hamilton was regarded as more of a PR kind of driver – certainly that was one of Ron Dennis' merits. When approached by the media on this, Hamilton made it very clear that he's not into F1 to play poker, but win championships.

However, the fact that he now knows what it's like to struggle for points in the championship seems to have made the young Brit more mature, in both racing and relationship to the other members of the F1 paddock.

“I think they do respect me more but maybe because I'm not winning!” added the 24-year old ace.