Hamilton: I don't want it easy
Lewis Hamilton insists that he is prepared to fight for future F1 world championship titles, despite the tension and acrimony that he endured en route to the this year's crown.
Speaking as he received the champion's trophy at the FIA Prizegiving in Qatar, Hamilton admitted that the greater the fight required to claim the title, the more the honour meant to him and, having seen both his world championships go down to the wire, the Briton maintained that he would not have it any other way should the opportunity come around again. Having trailed for much of the season, the Mercedes driver had overhauled team-mate Nico Rosberg in the standings with a couple of rounds to run, but the controversial double points on offer in Abu Dhabi ensured that either man could win thee title at the finale.
"I don't think you ever want to have it easy," he claimed, "You always want to have a fight. Easy championships, I don't know, they're just not as... you want that climax. Obviously, in the last race, Nico's car had an issue so, from halfway through the race, the pressure was different to having to defend but, throughout the whole year, [it was a case of] just trying to keep your cool, stay focused and all those kinds of things. It was great."
Hamilton repeated his Yas Marina claim that this year's title triumph felt better than his first in 2008, but insisted that, not only was he not done collecting championships, but that there were still areas of his game that could be improved.
"I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have had the championships I've had," he explained, "This one definitely feels sweeter than the first, but that's probably just because I'm older and because of what I've gone through to get to this one, the decisions that I've taken and all those kinds of things.
"For the next one - if there is another one - I want to fight as high as possible and try to work on and improve on the things that are not strong enough and could be better. But, overall, it's been an incredible year and I've been very blessed to have a great team around me."
