Hamilton comes out fighting

Hamilton: five-point lead

I would never say I was better than anyone else. But I am a Formula One driver and all of us have to believe in ourselves to get to where we are. You have to have that belief to go out and win.

Lewis Hamilton
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Lewis Hamilton has defended himself against claims that he is over-confident and arrogant.

The 23-year-old divides opinion like no other driver in recent history. His detractors regularly accuse him of being cocky while his supporters often compare him to the likes Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

The Brit, who currently has a five-point lead over Felipe Massa heading into the final two races of the season, has been forced to throw cold water over reports saying he claimed he is better than Senna and Schumacher.

"I would never say I was better than anyone else. But I am a Formula One driver and all of us have to believe in ourselves to get to where we are. You have to have that belief to go out and win: and that's what helps you strive for better performance and to achieve more in your life," he told his official website.

"I look at the other drivers and I want to beat them. I would never say, 'I'm better than you', I just think that all these guys are the best and to be the best I have to beat them. That's how every racing driver sees things."

Scrutiny

The McLaren driver, though, concedes that he hasn't always made life easy for himself, but says it is tough being under so much scrutiny

"For sure, it's not easy to always say or do the right thing, and when you're constantly being scrutinised it can be particularly difficult," he added

"Recently, there have been lots of different quotes attributed to me. And sometimes I've said things that have either come out the wrong way or been taken out of context so people get a different feeling of what I've said when I haven't expressed myself correctly.

"I'm only human and every now and then people make mistakes. Communication is so important in life and some of the things I've said were not meant to harm anyone. I don't feel like I've hurt anyone. And my family makes sure that doesn't happen."