Troubled Lewis looks to get back on track

Lewis Hamilton says problems in his personal life contributed to his failure to recapture the Formula One title and said he is trying to banish "outside intrusions" from his mind in 2011

Reflecting on a tough season that he rated as a six out of 10, the 2008 World Champion gave BBC Radio some rare insight into problems away from the track and said he hopes to "smooth everything off."

Hamilton did not specify what was bothering him, but the McLaren driver's season began in March amid the fallout from the high-profile decision to drop his father, Anthony Hamilton, as manager.

The 25-year-old Hamilton says that "The personal life, the way things have gone have not been as smooth and as happy as they could have been in the past and to do what I do is a combination of many, many things that are surrounding you," said the 25-year-old.

"It's not just arriving at the race track and driving, it's your appearances, it's your mood swings, it's the people that are around you - your family and your friends - and the time that you are able to give to them and the relationship that you have with them.

"As soon as some of those things are off - and you've not got all those pieces of the puzzle in place - then it makes it very hard to do other aspects of your life as easily. The key I think to life is getting all those pieces of the puzzle in place."

Hamilton finished fourth on the Drivers' standings, 16 points behind World Champion Sebastian Vettel, and Hamilton admits it's not a performance he is proud of.

"It's been a long time since I finished out of the top three of a Championship in my career," exlpained the McLaren driver.

"Finishing fourth is not something that I'm not particularly proud of.

"We had a solid couple of bad races where I lost points which would have put me in a much stronger position to compete for the Championship at the end of the year and really just throughout the year in general."

Heading into 2011, the Briton is drawing inspiration from another sporting icon that didn't have the best year - Tiger Woods.

"I look at the likes of Tiger Woods - I see him as the best golfer, he's a complete legend," said Hamilton.

"He's had many, many things that have had an impact on him this year, but he still plays, he still pars it, he still gets birdies.

"But that to him is a bad year, but to other people - I play golf and I'd love to get a par - when everything is right he is amazing," he added.

Source: Planet-F1