How "demons" showcased Hamilton's humanity to F1

In his most triumphant hour, confronted with the enormity of his latest achievement for the first time, Lewis Hamilton was in a reflective mood.

The newly confirmed six-time Formula 1 world champion has seemed immortal at times during what he considers his best season so far. But Hamilton has rarely looked as human, and seemed as vulnerable, as when he sat down to give a champion's address barely an hour after wrapping up his latest title.

Thoughtful, sincere and honest, Hamilton talked through a range of topics, but none were as stirring as the emotional turmoil of Niki Lauda's death days before the Monaco Grand Prix.

"I didn't think that was going to hit me as hard as it did," Hamilton said, half-shaking his head at the thought. "It really was upsetting and I miss him dearly today."

Then a smile started to form.

"And I didn't realise how much I loved the guy. From the moment that he was calling me, when I was back home, asking me to come to the team, to when we sat together in the hotel in Singapore the weekend my gearbox broke at McLaren, to him always taking his hat off, to our negotiations, to all sorts... Great conversations about his planes. His death was a tough pivot point for us."

This year has been turbulent. Hamilton has fought "demons". He has lost a friend, battled team instabilities, grown more emotionally frustrated at wider-world issues and fought back at renewed efforts from Ferrari and Red Bull to upset the status quo. He saw Anthoine Hubert's fatal Formula 2 crash on television, while giving a post-qualifying session interview in Belgium.

But through the on-track challenges, the complications and the mental chaos that goes unseen within any sportsperson, Hamilton has emerged a six-time world champion and an even more complete driver than he was before.

Sceptics may scoff at the suggestion that 2019 was "the hardest year for us as a team".

"I'm working on a masterpiece, and I haven't quite finished it yet" Lewis Hamilton

After all, Hamilton has won 10 grands prix so far and team-mate Valtteri Bottas has helped take Mercedes' tally to 14. It is the fifth time in six years Hamilton has won 10 races in one season and Mercedes' share of the victories is even bigger than it was last year, despite generally stronger form from Ferrari and Red Bull.

But statistics will never tell the full story. That is why Hamilton should be taken at his word: "The emotional rollercoaster that we've been on with losing Niki, and there was a race where I didn't have Bono [race engineer Peter Bonnington] here, [other factors] outside of the car... Trying to remain focussed throughout the year, that is the toughest."

Returning to statistics, Hamilton's year has not been perfect. He is on course for his worst pole count since 2011, having topped qualifying just four times, partly thanks to Ferrari's controversial form since the summer break but partly because he admits he has not had "spectacular" qualifying laps like in other seasons.

Yet he has a vastly superior victory ratio. The driver who once appeared to have imperious natural speed has, it seems, traded balls-to-the-wall one-lap glory in order to elevate his game where it really matters. Which has been vital in overcoming Ferrari's monopoly of track position at times.

Hamilton talked about the pressure to "arrive week-in, week-out, and I can't drop the ball". He gave himself a pass for Germany, where he went off while in a net control of the race, because he was ill that weekend. Otherwise, he ranked this as his best-performing season. The improvement on Sundays has outweighed the minor dip on Saturdays, but he does not believe he has peaked and still sees ways to improve.

"I'm working on a masterpiece, and I haven't quite finished it yet," he said. "I'm trying to understand... It takes a long time to master a craft and whilst I feel like I am mastering it, there's still more to master.

"There's still more pieces to the puzzle to add. There's going to be more ups and downs along the way but I feel like I've got the best tools now to be able to deal with those."

Few could question the way Hamilton has handled his setbacks this year. He earned an emotionally charged pole and victory in Monaco after Lauda's death, hounded Charles Leclerc for victory in Belgium 24 hours after Hubert's crash, and generally led the charge against Ferrari when Mercedes was pushed onto the back foot after the summer break.

The competitive element is important, because Hamilton has always talked a good game with regards to Mercedes' opposition. It is easy to say you want more competition when you are dominating. How you respond to that when it arrives is a truer test of character.

Hamilton, unsurprisingly, has risen to the occasion. Not for nothing is he one win from matching his best-ever win tally in a season where Ferrari and Red Bull have been more consistently competitive. But that mix of sporting pressure and whatever mental battle Hamilton has gone through has created a complicated environment in which to perform.

"We started the season, honestly, going off to Melbourne thinking that we were going to be behind," said Hamilton. "It's been a real challenge, this second half. It's been the toughest second half of the season that I think we've had as a team, fighting against Ferrari and Red Bull.

"Every journey is different. Every year you go through a different rollercoaster ride of emotions. Each and every single one of us is struggling with something in life. Whatever it may be: small, big.

"I tried to show people that, from the outside, things always look great but it's not always the case. And I am also struggling with lots of different things and battling certain demons and trying to make sure that I'm constantly growing as a person."

Hamilton's thoughtful side has blossomed in recent years. He assumed the authority of the most successful driver of his generation with aplomb but, whether it is a consequence of his age, experience, success or other factors, his world awareness is increasing all the time.

This does not always come across as Hamilton intends. Success can breed arrogance and he is often accused of having such a trait. Poking his nose into environmental affairs, and making sweeping declarations about things he admits he does not have a particularly good grasp of, makes some uncomfortable or irritated.

Hamilton's honesty, awareness of a bigger picture, and an understanding of the impact he can have is a key part of his persona

Successful, influential sports-people are role models though, and there are those who take this responsibility more seriously than others.

Hamilton's efforts should not be underestimated. He has talked about wanting to increase diversity in grassroots karting, help make it more affordable, and at his last appearance at the Autosport Awards he requested he handed out the karting trophies, as it is a matter close to his heart.

But whether his emotional side is lost in translation, or critics choose to shun it, it seems unavoidable that Hamilton will remain misunderstood by many. It's a shame. He is an outrageously good F1 driver, and that will forever remain the main way he is measured by most, but he offers far greater value than 'just' that.

His honesty, awareness of a bigger picture, and an understanding of the impact he can have is a key part of Hamilton's persona. When asked about the "demons" he had referred too just when he should be celebrating his latest F1 crown, he said: "To each and every one of us, it is personal, what we all challenge when you look in the mirror each day, when you feel good or you feel bad for whatever reason.

"There's always the darker side that's always trying to pull you down and you're constantly having to wake up... I don't know how you guys wake up in the morning, but I look in the mirror and I'm trying to lift myself up and say, 'Yes, you can do it. Yes, you are great. Yes, you can be fit if you go and put that time in. Yes, you can win this race if you do the right steps and you continue to believe in yourself, and no one else is going to do it for you.'

"It's just encouraging yourself always and I'm just trying to show a side that I didn't understand that we're all similar in many ways."

This takes us back to Hamilton's human side. He may seem immortal, but he knows he is not. No driver is. That fact was made tragically clear at Spa when Hubert was killed.

Hamilton stopped short of saying it made him question his future in F1. But he was not immune to it.

"I saw it on the TV, I saw it happen," said Hamilton. "When something like that happens, [it] can put lots of doubts in your mind and [it's about] batting that off and [avoiding] thinking, 'OK, jeez, is it time to stop or shall I keep going?' - because there's lots of life afterwards. I still want to spend time with my family, I still want to have a family one day, all these different things.

"But I'm so charged, and I love doing what I do so much, that I don't think there's a lot that can particularly stop me in that sense."

Hamilton's desire to contribute to a world beyond F1 is an endearing trait, even if an often-overlooked one, but the world he exists in primarily, to most people, is a sporting one. And in his sporting world he is dominating, even though he admits that he cannot quite comprehend how a sixth title strengthens his status as one of the greatest F1 drivers in history, or one of the best British sportspeople of all time.

"How am I supposed to feel?" he asked, with a look of genuine puzzlement when that status was put to him. He called it "beyond surreal" to be at that level, to have gone from a kid eating bacon sandwiches while watching races with his dad, to being the global superstar that millions of kids currently watch and aspire to be, even if Hamilton would probably prefer them not to be eating bacon sarnies while doing so.

Hamilton's sixth title, what it means in an F1 context and where it puts him in the pantheon of sporting greats had not sunk in on Sunday night. He said he tends not to grasp how great his seasons have been until the year is completely over.

When "you can just take a load off and just sit back and have a beer"," he said, that's when he will reflect on it.

Hamilton suspects "I will be with my dogs, with my feet up" when that moment comes in 2019. And as he scratches Roscoe behind the ear, or takes a sip of his beer, he will enjoy a small slice of normality in an otherwise whirlwind existence.

Up-close personal moments like that are best-saved for Hamilton's loved ones, but he brings more humanity to the F1 world than he is given credit for.

F1 is a better place with Lewis Hamilton the superstar and Lewis Hamilton the person. His champion's address was a fitting reminder of what both have to offer.