Lewis Hamilton has admitted he considered walking out on McLaren and F1 in the wake of the backlash he suffered over the Liargate scandal.
Found guilty by the FIA of 'deliberately misleading' race stewards after the season-opening Australian GP, Hamilton described the subsequent furore as "the worst experience of his life" as he issued a grovelling public apology.
In an interview conducted with the BBC on Friday but only broadcast during their coverage of the Bahrain GP, Hamilton, who has barely uttered a word to the press in the past week, confirmed that he did ponder leaving the sport because of the criticism he had to endure.
"I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to be here [in F1 with McLaren] for the next five years," he told the corporation. "There was so much going on. Do I want to be in the limelight with people slating me?
"Do I want be in the spotlight where I can't even go to go to the fish and chip shop or the cinema and have fun without people taking pictures of me?
"But if I want to race this car and if I want to continue doing this, that's what I've got to do."
Pressed to clarify whether he had decided to stay in F1, Hamilton replied: "I definitely have. And it's because of my fans."
With the FIA's hearing into the scandal to be held this week, Hamilton's future with McLaren has been cast in doubt in recent days with one newspaper even billing the Bahrain race as 'potentially his last with the team'. However, the World Champion has insisted he will not leave the Woking outfit.
"I'm very, very committed to my team," he vowed. "I love this team. I l have been here for many years. Since I was 10 years old I said this was who I wanted to drive for and I'm driving for them now.
"We won a world championship together. We just missed a world championship together and there's going to be many, many more years when we win and lose."
Source : Planet F1
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