Hamilton has emerged as F1's voice of reason

Lewis Hamilton makes no secret of the fact he celebrated becoming a three-time world champion last year by partying long and hard, having the most fun he has had since making it to Formula 1.

That, and the fact his seeming dip in focus helped a fired-up Nico Rosberg finish the 2015 season in style, raised questions about Hamilton's motivation once it was time to get back to work. But if anything, his off-track behaviour suggests the world champion has become more comfortable than ever in his own skin.

Not only has Hamilton shown on track (with two pole positions) that he hasn't fallen that half-a-step behind Rosberg as he was late last year, but he has also come into his own out of the car. So much so that he has emerged as one of the leading voices of reason in a paddock not exactly overpopulated with such people.

The first hints that Hamilton had returned from "an amazing winter" ready to speak his mind were during testing. He chose his words carefully, but offered plenty of clues he wasn't too happy with what was going on in grand prix racing, culminating in the moment where he 'agreed' with a question asking if F1 was broken.

On that day in the Barcelona paddock, Hamilton still stopped himself short a couple of times when it seemed he was heading down a path towards saying something particularly negative about F1, including the halo cockpit safety device, which he later hit out against on Instagram.

But his passion for Formula 1, or as he more accurately put it, wheel-to-wheel racing, is pulling at Hamilton's heartstrings at the moment. You can strip away the fame and fortune, the A-list celebrity friends - deep down the main thing he needs in his life is stimulation from racing.

So by the time the F1 paddock set up camp in Australia, and the qualifying furore thrust yet more negativity under the spotlight, Hamilton really had found his voice. Remember, before the GPDA released a statement on behalf of all the drivers, Hamilton had already spoken his mind alone during the Melbourne weekend, calling for fewer people to be involved in making F1's big decisions.

He's not the only driver to have spoken his mind this season, but he has continued to talk sense since. He reiterated those comments as part of Mercedes' team preview to the Bahrain Grand Prix, and then gave an impassioned assessment of the state of F1 once he arrived in Bahrain to meet the media.

Given how often drivers have to face the press, particularly over a grand prix weekend, it's understandable that a lot of the time they come across as bored. Hamilton has been no exception to that over the years.

But rather than give short shrift to those pushing him on the problems facing F1 at the moment, Hamilton was at his most engaging. He took his time to get his points across, speaking authoritatively and with great passion.

Whether intentional or not, in recent weeks Hamilton has come across as a world champion fighting on behalf of something he loves. It can be very easy for superstars to make a very good living off the back of something - including sport - but not feel the need to get involved beyond that.

Even if Hamilton isn't deliberately using the platform he's afforded by being F1's reigning world champion and surely its most famous driver right now, his calls for F1 to fix itself carry far more weight than they would if they were coming from someone of lesser status.

In the cases that we've seen in recent weeks, it's clear that Hamilton isn't just shooting from the hip. He's taken the time to consider his views, and so far he's doing an excellent job of conveying his feelings and communicating what he wants to get across rather than being led by the media. That's something he hasn't always been a master of in the past.

"I'm not going to give you a soundbite," was one of his quotes in pre-season. And the comments he has come out with since then back this up. He hasn't ranted, nor has he spoken out simply to create headlines. He's making well thought-through points, and is trying to participate in and move on the debate around the future of F1.

His approach is also in contrast to the previous world champion - Sebastian Vettel - who despite regularly being considered a better talker than Hamilton, did himself and F1 no favours with some of his quotes on the eve of the 2014 season.

We all remember when Vettel described the sound of the new V6 hybrid engines as "shit", which is exactly what Hamilton has tried to avoid - a soundbite. And to most it felt like a moan from someone who had just won four world titles on the bounce but already knew the Renault power he had for that season wasn't up to the job. It was a cheap shot, which is something Hamilton hasn't dealt in this year.

Perhaps that third world championship and the willingness to let his hair down has had an effect. The changes in Hamilton's personality - or at least the public version we see on an almost weekly basis - have been marked over his near-decade in Formula 1.

My dealings with Hamilton became pretty regular over his final two years before F1, when he won the Formula 3 Euro Series and GP2 titles back-to-back as his career rocketed towards a grand prix debut with McLaren in 2007.

Back then he was fun-loving and alive with energy - basically reacting to what was happening in his life as you'd expect any normal person to. He was loving it, and he was fun to be around.

That spark was in evidence during his debut F1 season. Despite missing out on the title in what became a controversial campaign, he was still down to earth when we crossed paths at Mercedes' end-of-year Stars & Cars event in Stuttgart.

But one year later, at the same event, with Hamilton this time in attendance celebrating his first world championship, the mood with the media was different. Hamilton was reserved, defensive, and wary of almost every question.

It had been another emotionally-charged year, and his superstardom was now well and truly assured. Perhaps that, combined with the tightly-controlled atmosphere at McLaren, had forced Hamilton into his shell.

It's no secret that Mercedes offered Hamilton the freedom to be his own man when it prised him away from McLaren. Perhaps what we're seeing now, in his fourth year with the team and with back-to-back titles under his belt, is the result of that approach.

But it's one thing to feel confident and comfortable enough to speak your mind, and quite another to channel that into making the kind of reasoned points Hamilton has proved capable of so far in 2016.

If we had permission to broadcast the audio from Hamilton's recent media sessions, particularly the one where he was so impassioned last week in Bahrain, we would love to share them with you.

There have been plenty of times in the past, even pretty recently, where the suggestion of the world champion's exchanges with the media being must-watch/attend/listen would seem almost ludicrous.

But right now, listening to what Lewis Hamilton has to say on Formula 1's matters of moment is a very good use of anyone's time.