F1: Hamilton his own "worst enemy"

Lewis Hamilton sees himself as his biggest enemy in this year's Formula 1 world championship fight, rather than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg or Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton has dominated the F1 season so far, winning three grands prix and finishing second in the other, all from a run of four consecutive pole positions. It means ahead of this weekend's opening European round, the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, Hamilton has a 27-point cushion over Rosberg, with Vettel a point further back.

When you consider Hamilton has won nine of the last 11 races overall, stretching back to Monza last September, the 30-year-old is clearly on a roll and in a good place on-track and off it mentally. But, when it was suggested to Hamilton at Barcelona that he has the psychological edge over his rivals, he said: "I don't look at it like that.

"Everyone is talking about the psychological stuff, but the only psychological warfare there is, is within myself. Your worst enemy can be yourself, so you're fighting against that invisible worst enemy.

"I want to be the best I can be. I know I can do this, and I know I can do that, and if I don't, that really bothers me.

"Otherwise I'm not fazed. Generally I don't get fazed by it. If somebody goes quicker, I figure out how I can be better.

"I'm not one to think, 'I've got the upper hand, so keep going, keep doing what you're doing.' In terms of where I am, I feel very strong in understanding the car, what I need to get from the tires, my race craft is there, race pace is good, and then qualifying has picked up a little."

Qualifying has undoubtedly given Hamilton the platform to push for a third world title this season, and he concedes it is an area where he looked to improve, particularly after being outperformed by Rosberg over one lap in 2014.

"I'm just trying to drive better, be less erratic, be a bit calmer when I do my laps," he said. "I've been a little bit more diligent in understanding the switch changes and all the different things you do throughout a lap.

"I have no doubt I can drive the fastest lap, but it's just in that moment, on that lap, it doesn't always happen."

Originally on Autosport.com