Hill tells Hamilton to focus on driving

Hamilton came under criticism following his crash with Kimi Raikkonen at the Canadian Grand Prix, and the Briton blasted media critics after the race in Magny-Cours, vowing to fight back after two disappointing outings.

Hill said on Thursday that Hamilton should just focus on the on-track action and ignore the things he cannot control.

"Ross Brawn said it the other day - just focus on the driving," Hill told reporters at Silverstone.

"There is so much that goes on beyond your control that you are wise to just focus on what you can control, and that is, how you drive, how you do your job, and the rest of it is in the lap of the Gods.

"And that's part of the fun and excitement. There's only so much you can control, and the rest of it will be sorted out an hour and a half after the start."

Hamilton dropped to fourth place in the standings after not scoring any points in Canada and France, but Hill is convinced the McLaren driver will be stronger after this difficult period.

"There has been a little bit of a wobble," he added. "I think it's to be expected, and nobody else can really help him. He is on his own.

It's something he has to go through. He will pull himself through it, and he will get stronger. It's a phase that drivers seem to go through. It's part of the growing process, I think, in becoming a champion."

Hill, world champion in 1996, admitted it is not easy to cope with the highs and lows of the sport and how the local media sees them.

"It is difficult to work out because you will always have a section of the press who will regard you as a standard bearer for the country," the BRDC president said.

"There will always be the hard core fans supporting you, and then on the other hand there will be the critical fans who will never be convinced, or they are always out to spot the weakness.

"And everyone has a weakness. Everyone out there has a flaw, and they will be exposed in the arena, and it's a question of accepting no one is perfect.

"It's possible to create a perfect image, but once you get into sport you are exposed as a human being with frailties, as well as strengths."

But Hill reckons Hamilton would get a huge morale boost if he won next week's home race.

"It would be an enormous boost, a tremendous thing to happen because there would be such a feel-good factor about it, for a British driver to win the grand prix, and for Lewis who is trying to fight for the world championship.

"But you know it's only a stay of execution, until the next one two weeks later. You start again every time. The clock goes back to zero after you've won a race.

"You don't go back to the next one as automatic victor."