Lewis Hamilton says his emotional responses to certain situations show how heavily invested he is in Formula One.
The triple world champion was forced to clarify comments made after retiring from the Malaysian Grand Prix, having said "something just doesn't feel right" and called on Mercedes to provide an answer to his poor reliability this season.
In an interview with ESPN - which was given ahead of his decision to not talk to media in response to coverage of his phone usage during a press conference - Hamilton says those who criticise how he sometimes reacts emotionally should remember the importance of F1 in his life.
"Every now and then I've seen people have an opinion about how emotional I get; like I should be more happy even when I've lost," Hamilton said. "But I think people that comment on that forget how heavily invested I am in this sport.
"It's the same for anyone whatever they are doing, it's about how much investment they have put in, and my heart has been invested in this for 23 years.
"This has been part of my life since I was eight and it is literally an extension of my life and my body. It's really odd, but I feel it. I guess that's why I'm good at what I do, because I don't just drive with my head, I feel it in my heart, I feel it my chest, I feel it in my abs, I feel it in my butt, I feel it in my neck, I feel everything.
"That's why I love it, because there is nothing else that I do that feeds all that and I can get those feelings from."
PREVIEW: 2016 United States Grand Prix
TECHNICAL - Turbulent Jet Ignition: In the antechamber of F1 power
FEATURE: Where and why has Williams been caught out
F1i Classic - Masten Gregory - The 'Kansas City flash'
2017 F1 driver line-ups so far
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…
Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…
The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…
Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…
It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…
Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…