Putting a smile back on Hamilton's face

Lewis Hamilton - two of the most emotive words in Formula 1. To give an opinion or mention his name seems to provoke a dramatic reaction from fans and critics alike.

The Korean Grand Prix weekend was no different.

Hamilton could barely raise a smile after his Korean GP pole © LAT

I don't write this lightly as I can already foresee the response it could create, purely because of the subject matter.

I think Hamilton has the most passionate and protective fans of any F1 driver on the grid; every time we mention his name on the BBC, there'll be someone who'll criticise us for a perceived bias against him.

I know that every time I interview him, someone somewhere will question my motives and accuse me of everything from being a Jenson Button fan, to racism.

The irony is that although Hamilton seems to be publicly beating himself up about his performances, if anyone else asks about his comings-together with Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi or any other incident, then they are deemed the bad guys.

The guy has had a tough season, there's no doubt about that. He has always carried a huge reputation and when another young gun like Sebastian Vettel rocks up and wins back-to-back world championships, then he's bound to wonder why he's not in that situation.

Also, he's in the rare position (for him) of being beaten by a team-mate, and his perceived persecution by the stewards has not helped his mindset either.

Whether he has problems in his personal life - as has been reported - is not really any of our business, although it's more difficult not to bring it into the equation when he is so publicly downbeat - even after taking a stunning pole position and breaking the Red Bull season-long run at Yeongam.

But after a sublime drive to second, despite a car missing critical aero... © LAT

It was a great achievement, and afterwards it was very strange hearing him say that he "doesn't deserve to smile" because of previous performances this year.

At no point in Korea was Hamilton ever able to get out from under the grey cloud that was holding him down. Journalists were left scratching their heads trying to come up with questions to extract a smile.

Even on the Saturday when he spoke of putting all his energy into the race it was difficult to see where that energy would come from. But it was there on track - you could see it in his determination to hold on to that second place from Mark Webber.

I don't expect him to open up to journalists and tell us what's going on in his head. Why should he when we are paid to be there and ask questions, not to be best friends - and it's rare that you want to discuss your problems with people you barely know.

I have known Hamilton and his family since 2006 when he arrived in GP2 and have a huge amount of respect and admiration for everything that he's achieved, despite huge pressure and the relentless glare of the media spotlight.

But, saying that, he's now in a very privileged position: a young, healthy guy, earning huge amounts of money, with a glamorous lifestyle.

... there was at least a deserved look of satisfaction on the podium © LAT

I found it ironic that after my interview with him in Monaco, when he came out with the Ali G quote "maybe it's because I'm black" after he was penalised by the stewards, I was bombarded with emails and tweets from his fans and reaction from website chat rooms accusing me of racism and provoking him to say it so I'd get a good story.

Between Monaco and Canada I got in touch with the man, who was taking as much abuse as I was, but for the opposite reason, and in Canada it was clear that everything was fine and there were certainly no hard feelings.

That's the thing about Lewis Hamilton - he does divide opinion. No one doubts he has great skill and is one of the most exciting drivers out there, but he will make mistakes and he will rightly be criticised for them by both current and former drivers who are entitled to give their opinion.

That doesn't mean there is a witch-hunt or any bias against him.

Hamilton is without doubt at his best when he does his talking on the track and if he carries on like he did last weekend in Korea, then I really hope he'll be speaking with a smile and some sparkle again - because he deserves it.