Hamilton has no plans to change
Lewis Hamilton has claimed he would walk away from Formula One if he was ever forced to rein in his natural racing instinct.
Hamilton's remarks follow a controversial Monaco Grand Prix as the McLaren star twice faced the stewards, initially for his on-track indiscretions, and then for his verbal attack on the stewards.
The 26-year-old received drive-through penalties for attempting to barge his way past Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado. Hamilton, though, has no intention of changing who he is on track, otherwise it may signal the end of his F1 career. "In all honesty I will never stop racing the way I do. It's the way I do it," said Hamilton.
After seeing the stewards following the race, a seething Hamilton voiced his anger, describing the punishments as "a frickin' joke" as it was the fifth time in six races he had been hauled up. Hamilton, though, then pushed the boundaries as he suggested the reason for his repeat visits was "maybe..because I'm black".
Although immediately stating it is "what Ali G says", the joke was lost on the stewards because after leaving the track, he returned to face them again to apologise for his remarks.
He added: "That's what got me here, it is the way I am. I don't do it to offend people or to hurt anyone. I do it because I love racing, and I feel like I can do it better than others.
"If it ever comes to a stage where I had to pull back and just cruise around, that would not excite me and I probably wouldn't stay around for that. I am here to race and win. If I have to lose that passion then it blows all racing."
Hamilton has admitted to being a powderkeg of frustration when he emerged from his car after finishing sixth in Monte-Carlo. The third period of qualifying was a disaster, after he had been quickest in the first two sessions, as luck deserted him.
In the race, Hamilton was involved in a number of incidents, not least the failed overtaking attempts on Massa and Maldonado. At the first pit stop his crew were absent, then he almost lost his rear wing 10 laps from home in a crash that saw Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov retire.
"All the tension just boiled up," added Hamilton. "I had prepared myself the best for the weekend, I was the fastest and I could have won the grand prix happily. But some things get in your way and you just have to suck it up and move on."
Hamilton apologises to Massa and Maldonado
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has apologised to angry fans and Formula One rivals Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado for comments he made after Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Briton had blasted race stewards after collecting two drive-through penalties, one imposed after the race, for collisions with Massa of Ferrari and Williams' Venezuelan rookie.
"Massa held me up in qualifying, I got the penalty," he fumed afterwards. "He turned in to me (during the race), I got the penalty. These drivers are ridiculous. It's stupid."
Hamilton made peace with the stewards after the race and then made a separate apology to Massa and Maldonado on his Twitter page.
"2 Massa & Maldonado, with the greatest respect I apologise if I offended u. Both of u r fantastic drivers who I regard highly," said the Briton, second overall in the championship but 58 points behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
After the race, Brazilian Massa, who crashed in the tunnel after a collision at the hairpin, called for Hamilton to face further sanctions.
Maldonado, who had been sixth and heading for his first points in Formula One but ended up with nothing, told Venezuelan television that Hamilton's race was "not that of a champion".
Hamilton, who finished sixth, also addressed fans "lost and won" and said he respected both the positive and angry messages he had received in the aftermath.
The 2008 world champion added a further explanation to his behaviour in a meeting with British reporters after he had been to see the stewards in Monaco, and said he had no plans to change his style of driving.
"That's what got me here, it is the way I am. I don't do it to offend people or to hurt anyone. I do it because I love racing, and I feel like I can do it better than others," he declared.
"If it ever comes to a stage where I had to pull back and just cruise around, that would not excite me and I probably wouldn't stay around for that. I am here to race and win. If I have to lose that passion then it blows all racing."
Hamilton also revealed he had been asked to retire from the race when his car suffered a damaged wing in a multi-car crash that led to the grand prix being stopped and then re-started.
"I got hit and my rear wing was hanging off and I was asked to come in and retire and I refused," he said.
"Then the red flag came out and I am lucky I did not retire as I managed to get a couple of points or it would have been even more damaging to my championship.
"In the first pit-stop I was asked to pit and no-one was there. So all the tension just boiled up," he added.
Felipe Massa of Brazil and Ferrari leads from Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren during the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo Circuit on May 29, 2011 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
