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HAMILTON MAKES CASE FOR DEFENCE
Lewis Hamilton has defended himself for "slipping-up" at the Australian Grand Prix earlier in the season.
Defending world champion Hamilton has had a difficult 2009 season both on and off the track.
His year got off to a nightmare start when he was disqualified from the Australian GP classification for giving "misleading evidence" to race stewards.
With the dust finally settling over the issue, Hamilton says he made a "mistake".
"All I can say is, no one's perfect," he told the Daily Mail.
"I am a human being. I'm not a... you race to be a superstar, and you're looked at as a god or something silly. I'm not. I've got no superpowers, I'm a normal human being who's made it from nowhere. And I've got to somewhere. It just so happens that when I make a mistake, it's all over the tabloids.
"Every sportsman, every film actor, every great person that's doing well and achieving something, it's like, hype, hype, hype, and as soon as they make one slip-up, it's 'Wow'. It's one slip-up."
While Hamilton has struggled this year, his compatriot Jenson Button has been setting the world alight.
The Brawn GP driver is leading the world championship by 18.5 points with seven races still to go.
Button's turn of fortunes has led to many British fans switching their allegiances from the McLaren ace to the Brawn driver. Hamilton, though, isn't too upset.
"It doesn't bother me," he says. "It's the way the world works. People love winners. Some people love to support the team that's winning, like in football."
Many fans perceive Hamilton as "another arrogant, over-rich playboy driver", but the Brit insists he doesn't have an over-the-top lifestyle.
"The thing is that it's what they read that makes them think that," he adds. "It's like people say I've got a boat - I've never thought of buying a boat. I've rented a boat.
"I don't spend money. I don't waste money. I have, on occasions, taken my girlfriend on a trip somewhere, and I can afford a better trip than some other people, but I don't live an extravagant lifestyle."
Lewis Hamilton has defended himself for "slipping-up" at the Australian Grand Prix earlier in the season.
Defending world champion Hamilton has had a difficult 2009 season both on and off the track.
His year got off to a nightmare start when he was disqualified from the Australian GP classification for giving "misleading evidence" to race stewards.
With the dust finally settling over the issue, Hamilton says he made a "mistake".
"All I can say is, no one's perfect," he told the Daily Mail.
"I am a human being. I'm not a... you race to be a superstar, and you're looked at as a god or something silly. I'm not. I've got no superpowers, I'm a normal human being who's made it from nowhere. And I've got to somewhere. It just so happens that when I make a mistake, it's all over the tabloids.
"Every sportsman, every film actor, every great person that's doing well and achieving something, it's like, hype, hype, hype, and as soon as they make one slip-up, it's 'Wow'. It's one slip-up."
While Hamilton has struggled this year, his compatriot Jenson Button has been setting the world alight.
The Brawn GP driver is leading the world championship by 18.5 points with seven races still to go.
Button's turn of fortunes has led to many British fans switching their allegiances from the McLaren ace to the Brawn driver. Hamilton, though, isn't too upset.
"It doesn't bother me," he says. "It's the way the world works. People love winners. Some people love to support the team that's winning, like in football."
Many fans perceive Hamilton as "another arrogant, over-rich playboy driver", but the Brit insists he doesn't have an over-the-top lifestyle.
"The thing is that it's what they read that makes them think that," he adds. "It's like people say I've got a boat - I've never thought of buying a boat. I've rented a boat.
"I don't spend money. I don't waste money. I have, on occasions, taken my girlfriend on a trip somewhere, and I can afford a better trip than some other people, but I don't live an extravagant lifestyle."