LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed the secrets behind his astonishing Formula One success.
Britain’s seven-time world champion admits he surrounds himself with “far, far smarter” people.
And he is not afraid to ask “dumb” questions to help his Mercedes engineers build him the best car, which he then studies inside and out so he knows his “s***”.
Then, once in the cockpit, he never lets his mind wander from the “life or death decisions” he makes as he races his 200mph machine round grands prix circuits.
Hamilton, 36, is favourite to land a record-breaking EIGHTH world crown this year to cement his position as the greatest F 1 driver in history – despite some testing problems with his new Mercedes W12 supercar.
And he declared: “Team dynamics is definitely key to winning.
“Imagine 2,000 people in a rowing boat. If one person is rowing in the opposite direction, it slows you down.
“So getting everyone moving in the right direction helps.
“I am always analysing how I motivate individuals around me to raise our performance.
“You need to have the talent – but you have to adapt to different situations and the pressures around you.
“It’s having the confidence in your ability and just knowing your s***. I know everything about the car, I study it every year.
“I make sure I work with people who are far, far smarter than me and make them educate me every year.
“If I don’t understand something simple and it sounds dumb because I don’t understand, I don’t care.
“I still ask the question, so that I can give them better explanations of what I want from a car.
“When you have that collaboration, it helps you build the best car and win races.”
That is something he has done throughout his glittering career, winning a record 95 grands prix, claiming 98 poles, 165 podiums and amassing a staggering 3,778 points from his 266 races.
Hamilton will be out to improve those stats when the season gets underway in Bahrain on Sunday.
However, his achievements have often been targeted by claims he is only a multiple champion because he has always had the best car.
Triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart insisted Hamilton would not figure in his all-time top three greatest drivers – and claimed his “car and engine are so superior that it’s almost unfair on the rest of the field”.
Former F 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya echoed Stewart by claiming: “In F 1, the driver with the fastest car wins. Period.”
McLaren star Lando Norris belittled Hamilton’s phenomenal record, insisting: “He is in a car which should win every race.”
But the champ dismissed the jibes and said he could also have won world titles in rival cars.
Hamilton added: “I won my first championship in 2008 (with McLaren). The Ferrari was the fastest car and I beat them.
“In 2018 I would have won in the Ferrari which, again, wasn’t the fastest car.
“But if you look at every champion in the past, there is not one who hasn’t won the championship without a great team and a great car.”
Four-time champ Sebastian Vettel insisted his rival is “the greatest driver of our era”.
But Hamilton admitted he cannot afford to switch off for even a millisecond on the track. He added: “There is no time to have crazy thoughts.
“You’re not thinking, ‘Have I got groceries at home?’.
“You cannot afford to think of something else because it’s life-or-death decisions you are making.
“Every millisecond counts, you are constantly focused.”
However, he confessed he has “no idea” what he would have done had he not carved out a career as a Formula One driver.
In a Q&A session with AMG Private Lounge members, he revealed: “I tried different jobs when I was a teenager and I was terrible at many of them!
“I didn’t have a lot of patience when I worked in a clothes store, in a pub.
“But I always loved building things like tables, or taking things apart like TVs.
“Dad had a bunch of stuff in the garage so I was always in there being mechanical with my radio-controlled cars, taking things apart and putting them back together.
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“So, maybe I would have been a techie.”
He also revealed he has endured some “bad hair” days on the podium and sings in the shower.
Now he is ready to clean up again on the track.
