Lewis Hamilton admits he may have allowed off-track distractions to affect his performances during a disappointing 2011.
Former champ promises improvements in 2012
Lewis Hamilton admits he may have allowed off-track distractions to affect his performances during a disappointing 2011.
The Briton finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship last season, behind McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.
The 2008 World Champion believes that his struggles can be partially attributed to a "knock-on effect" from his pursuits away from the track and insists that he has refocused for the 2012 season.
"Last year quite a lot of times I went out and enjoyed myself thinking that these things don't affect you but in actual fact they do, they have a knock-on effect," he told
The Observer.
"It takes you two days to recover, you miss two days of training and your mind is somewhere else when you get to the race.
"It's the amount of travel you do, choosing the right time to travel, the right place at the right time, ahead of time. Going out to Australia and China early, to make sure I get there in plenty of time. Those kind of things. They are all sorts of things you can improve."
Hamilton was given an extended break by his McLaren team over the winter and says that he is in good shape, mentally and physically, to usurp reigning champion Sebastian Vettel.
"This year I have focused on my relationship with the team, my mechanics and my group of people who I have put together, and making sure I am fit and healthy. This is what matters. Last year has no bearing on me. I don't care about last year. Sometimes I was a little unfortunate, but it was a shocking year and I was not too devastated by it.
"You have to draw a line under it. At the end of the day, he did not win the world championship. If he had it would have been even worse. But there are still many years ahead and I do not plan on that being the case this year.
"I am in a good place - and Vettel is not invincible."
