Hamilton calls for more F1 drivers to show personality

Lewis Hamilton says more drivers in Formula One should follow his lead and show their true personalities.

The triple world champion is often in the limelight as he enjoys a high-profile lifestyle away from Formula One, recently admitting he is trying to work out what he wants to do after he leaves the sport. The approach leads to Hamilton often being the centre of debate and media coverage, something he believes is due to a lack of other drivers being their real selves in F1.

“I think Formula One needs personality and I think everyone has a personality,” Hamilton told TV3. “They’re just too afraid, they’ve been led to believe they have to be this square and I’m sure when they get home they’re not.

“The more and more us as individuals come out of our shells the better it will be for the sport.”

And Hamilton agrees with team boss Toto Wolff that his lifestyle away from the circuit has had a positive impact on his performances when racing.

“I definitely think being myself has helped me be more successful. Unfortunately in Formula One growing up it’s a very corporate sport, it’s very much been the same for a long, long time. The racing part’s exciting but everything outside is stale.

“It’s like as a driver you have to be a square to fit in to the sport. That’s what I was led to believe, that you have to be a square to fit in to the sport. I think once I finally got here and I was fully implanted by roots – so you can’t pull this tree out the ground it’s stuck in it for as long as I generally want to go – then I could start to be myself.

"It’s getting to a point where I don’t really care what people say. This is who I am and if you don’t accept it it doesn’t matter because I’m going to get in the car and I’m going to win. And that’s so empowering to be able to do that. Being denied of who you are is the biggest crime you can do to yourself.”

2015 F1 season: F1i's drivers review 10-1