The psychological secrets of Hamilton's greatest season

When Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff talked about Lewis Hamilton being the "differentiator" between his team and Ferrari in the Formula 1 title battle, he wasn't just paying lip service to his star driver.

In a campaign where the performance edge has swung frequently between the red cars and the silver cars, the real moments that ultimately defined the destiny of the 2018 title were those of Hamilton magic.

It wasn't days such as the Spanish or French Grands prix, where Hamilton reeled off a win with that weekend's fastest car, that mattered.

Instead, think of Hungary, Germany and Italy - where he was on the back foot and pulled off victories that should not have been his.

Think too of that magic qualifying lap in Singapore that acted as a killer blow for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari.

It is those afternoons, where Hamilton ripped up for the form book and helped Mercedes triumph when it was not supposed to, that are key to understanding how he was able to achieve new highs this year.

Reflecting in an interview about what he has frequently called the most intense year he has known, Hamilton says: "The best parts of the season have been when we've been on the back foot.

"There were times when we ended up further back for whatever reason, and then managed to claw our way back and collectively to do a better job overall.

"That's really what's made the difference this year - which is something the whole team can be really proud of."

"I know I can be great, but certain things get in the way and you're not always able to be great" Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton likes talking up the teamwork element. Certainly a driver cannot produce a season like he has without a competitive car, but it his own contribution in those inspired moments that has made the difference.

You get a sense that at these times when Hamilton's brilliance shines through, something clicks inside him at the very moment things appear to be slipping away from him.

We've seen before in his career: think of how he turned the negativity ahead of the 2008 British GP into the inspiration for one of his greatest wet-weather drives.

Or in 2014, when he was so angry at missing out on pole position at Silverstone that he went home to his father's house the night before the race, regathered his thoughts and came back to pull off a brilliant win.

Those against-all-odds moments, where Hamilton knows he has to do something special - or more importantly knows that magic will make the difference - are where he is at his best. And that is exactly what was needed at times in 2018.

"It's all about seizing the moment," he says. "When it rains in Budapest, for example, I would imagine it is easy to look at it and think, 'Shoot, that makes it much harder for us all.' That is looking at the glass half empty.

"I look at it the other way, like 'This is an opportunity for me. Great. They [Ferrari] were actually quicker in the dry. But today now I know I can make the difference in the wet if I put it together.'

"Now, knowing it initially and actually doing it are two different things. Then I go into the zone of how am I going to put this lap together collectively to make sure I'm ahead."

Hamilton says it is a "head space" thing, but it's not something that he is able to consciously switch on when he wants. At the German GP for example, where he was lapping three seconds quicker than his main rivals on the damp track and closing on Vettel, he didn't adjust his mindset - or, if he did, he wasn't aware of it.

"Naturally I didn't know it was going to rain in the race. So you are progressing mentally in the race," he recalls.

"But then when it started to rain I'm like, 'OK, I'm going to catch him,' and I also know that he's thinking I'm going to catch him. I'm sure he is asking where I am, and they are saying, 'Lewis is now up to seventh' and he knows I am heading up that way.

"A bit like at Silverstone [in 2014, pictured] when I messed up in qualifying and Nico [Rosberg] got pole. I went home and was distraught but came back the next day and won.

"[I was thinking] 'he is going to start on pole, how do I minimise the loss that I am going to have?'

"It's how you recover from those. That psychological preparation for me there is the most powerful."

Hamilton loves recounting how this attitude has been instilled in him since karting, frequently mentioning a story of having to learn to charge from the back because his equipment was inferior to the opposition.

"I had to really reach and make a difference," he says. "Those are the scenarios where I feel like... I don't know if that's adversity or... those pressurised moments, that's when I can do my best."

But it runs deeper than that karting anecdote. This is about dealing with extreme pressure; keeping focus and belief and using the intensity of an F1 title battle to harness the magic that makes him click. There is a spiritual element too.

Digging further into that Hockenheim weekend, Hamilton said at the time that his "prayers were answered". Pushed a little about what he asks for in such prayers, he offers a fascinating explanation.

"I don't pray to win," he explains. "I don't pray for fortune. I always just ask... whether you're talking to yourself or someone's hearing you, I want to be able to live up to my potential. Allow me to live to my potential today.

"I know I can be great, but certain things get in the way and you're not always able to be great. That is always what I want. Just allow me to run free.

"If you ever asked for a sign of something, fucking hell. It was really freaky" Lewis Hamilton on the German GP

"Also at Hockenheim there was so much negativity. For me that's like the devil. Let me shine on this and turn that darkness, that booing and all that which is dark and turn it. For me the sun was shining even though it was raining afterwards. It was crazy."

And there is a hint too of the German GP, and the storm after the race, being signs that what he had asked for had been granted.

"For me it was biblical. If you knew the stuff that I'd said in my prayer and it was not predictable or anything like that. I didn't ask for the rain at the end of the race... that was almost like... If you ever asked for a sign of something, fucking hell. It was really freaky. It was... holy shit."

But don't think for a second that he believes his fate is being decided from above. The "heaven-sent" lap that he says he produced in Singapore was nothing gifted to him by a higher force.

"I am not saying that is control from above or anything. When I say heaven-sent, that's just because I am always searching for perfection and you never get close. But that was the closest that I felt with that lap. For me, it was fucking awesome. For me that felt it was one of the best laps I've ever done."

There is no sense that Hamilton feels he is at his best now, though; for the determination is there to be an even better driver in the future.

Shortly before our interview, he had been in a team meeting to discuss what was needed for 2019 to help everyone lift their game.

"Last year, I was trying to figure out this amazing year and how I can improve on that. When you have won the championship, it is easy to just ride the wave and think it's great. But I am always wanting to raise the bar.

"Even now, in this meeting, I was saying to them: 'for next year, we need to do this different, I need this analysis done better. So let's look into that when we get to the end of the race season and how we can improve that'.

"I am always shooting things out and they make a note. And if they don't make a note, I say, 'Why didn't you make a note of that? You're going to forget that and I am going to forget to remind you again.'"

One thing is totally clear about the five-time champion Hamilton. Age and experience is not eroding away any of the natural talent that burst into F1 back in 2007.

Instead, it is bringing him opportunities to race more freely. That means more ability to unlock the magical moments and make fewer mistakes: something that has left his rivals knowing that only perfection will beat him.

Asked how much better he has become in hitting the peaks and eradicating the troughs, Hamilton smiles: "I can't put a number to it.

"Far, far, far [better]. 2007 me wouldn't have a fucking chance. And he was still very quick. That's a massive far..."