Lewis: I love F1 more than ever

Lewis Hamilton says he has lost none of passion for Formula 1 during his tough 2009 season and is already raring to get back on track.

The former world champion had a desperate start to his title defence - with McLaren among the slowest cars at first and Hamilton at the centre of a scandal after he misled the stewards in Melbourne.

But the team fought back and was back at the top by the end of the year, winning at the Hungaroring and in Singapore.

Far from being eager for a break after his punishing 2009 campaign, Hamilton wants to get 2010 underway as soon as possible.

"To be honest, I'm ready to go racing again next week," he said in an interview with his personal website.


"At the moment, I think I can safely say that I'm more in love with Formula 1 than I've ever been, and I just can't wait to get back out there again!"

He believes he has improved more during 2009 than he did when fighting for titles in the previous two years.

"I've learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back," said the former champion.

"I've grown as a man, and as a driver.

"I've faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did – even from one year ago."

Hamilton reckons McLaren has also improved in adversity.

"I also think we are a much closer group now, too," he said.

"We've known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter – we've been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better.

"That's something I really appreciate – and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season."

He also paid tribute to the British fans for standing by him this year, particularly when he spent the Silverstone weekend in the midfield.

"I arrived knowing that I wouldn't be able to fight for a win, and where I was just overwhelmed by the amount of support from the people at the circuit," Hamilton recounted.

"I would never have imagined it would have been such a positive and inspiring weekend for me – even if our results weren't that great.

"I'd had such an amazing race at Silverstone in 2008, and it really meant a lot to me to see that people had kept the faith and were behind me even if I couldn't score a win for them."