2008 F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton took a break from wowing the crowd at yesterday’s Paqpaqli Għall-Istrina to discuss his career with Patrick Cooke

Can you give us your personal assessment of the season that has just finished? Do you feel that you were racing at your best?

I do feel that I was at my best this year, although I feel like I can always be better. It’s been an up and down year. We started off not so bad and had lots of problems half way, and particularly at the end. But it was a year of growth and real challenges. I loved it, every moment, even the races that we were not winning, but particularly the races that we did win.

There were six world champions on the grid this year – out of all the championships you have been involved in, was this the hardest one to win?

Not particularly. It was hard for me to win because I did not have as much fortune as some of the other people during the season, when perhaps the car stopped when I was about to gain maximum points, but thatis motor-racing. Otherwise it was pretty cool to be around such great drivers because when you do win it makes it even more satisfying.

Did you feel under extra pressure to prove yourself when Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso pulled away at the top of the championship race? If so, did that make your win in the US extra special?

The America win was very satisfying because I felt like, with the way that I was driving, I could have been up there fighting with them for the championship. The fact that I wasn’t pushed me even more to want to be ahead of them and prove to the world that I was at the forefront of that championship and was worthy of being in contention. So it was a great time for me to just be at the front and overtake the guy who actually won the championship (Vettel), in a car that has just dominated for the last three of four years.

After six seasons in Formula 1, are you coming to a stage in your career where you feel a real sense of urgency to win more championships?

Not particularly. If you look at some of the greats they took a long time before they won many world championships so I just have to bide my time. Hopefully, fingers crossed, that is what I work for every year so if it comes, it comes, but you just never know when it is going to happen.

You were involved in a dramatic crash in Belgium this year. Do you ever worry about the risks and dangers in Formula 1?

I don’t. I never go into anything worrying about the dangers, whether I’m on my jet-ski, on my motorbike, in my car, or whatever it is. I don’t have that fear that other people usually have which enables me to do what I do with a free mind.

I saw a photo of your girlfriend looking quite horrified after that particular crash. Is the danger element harder for your loved ones than it is for you?

Definitely. As it would be for me the other way around. When I watch my brother and see him get hurt or have a crash, it’s hard. So definitely it is harder for them.

You mentioned via e-mail that Jenson Button was your biggest rival in this past season because he was your team-mate. Will that rivalry persist next season when he is no longer your ­team-mate?

Well he is a competitor. But the rivalry I have with my new team-mate will be the next big thing. You are always compared to your team-mate. If your team-mate is any good then it is difficult to be more than a few tenths of a second faster with the same equipment. But it is those few tenths of a second hat define whether or not you’re a top driver.

Is it always a friendly rivalry with team-mates or can it boil over into something more serious?

It could do. If you look in the past there have been drivers who have had bust-ups, particularly in the States where they do that all the time. But in Formula 1 we don’t really have that; we keep calm and do our talking on the track.

What will you miss most about driving for McLaren?

I will miss my friends and colleagues and I will miss just sitting in ‘my’ car. This is the car I first got into and the one I have been involved in over the years, so it will be strange not being in that car. But stepping into another one will be a nice experience. For better or worse, it is a part of growing.

Whether or not I am making a step forwards or backwards I am going to do it because it is a new part of my life and hopefully I will be better for it.