Lewis Hamilton vows to get rid of off-track distractions next year

After a season where he admits his driving has been McLaren's 'biggest hazard', Hamilton is open about changes that he needs to make in his life for 2012.

"It's not been the best of seasons for me, lots of ups and downs," said Hamilton, on the back of more difficulties at the Indian Grand Prix following a grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement in practice.

"With the car we would have hoped to have had more consistent pace. But the team has done a fantastic job to get us where we are today, the second fastest team, able to split the Red Bulls, and no one else has been able to do that.

"I speak for myself (when I say) my driving, for me, has been the biggest hazard. I can improve, and that's what I'm working towards for next year, and also staying out of the stewards' office is also a very big goal - top of my priorities for next year."

Hamilton said that there was no specific action he could take to ensure he delivered more next year, but conceded that there were areas of his life where he had to do better.

"Life is like a puzzle, you just have to get things in place," he explained. "Formula 1 is a massively competitive sport where you have to have clear thoughts.

"You just have to live and breathe F1. There is no room for anything else. So I plan to eliminate everything else in my life - not my family or anything like that - but anything that can be a distraction.

"That will be a start, and the rest will be just doing what I'm doing. My qualifying has been pretty good. Generally I'm quite happy with my qualifying pace, particularly the last couple of races, but generally through the year I feel it's been quite good.

"The other one is in the race, just staying out of trouble, and that is something I'm working on. The last race was a good stepping stone, so let's hope I continue on that path."