LEWIS HAMILTON: I crave a return to the days when my hero Senna ruled. I admire that style far more than what we see today. If you took danger away from racing, I wouldn't do it any more...

Racing drivers don’t do wistful. Too much testosterone, too much adrenaline. Feelings of vague regret or longing are a little fey for men whose job it is to take the most finely tuned piece of machinery this side of the Kennedy Space Center to its squealing, screaming, searing limit.

Yet, unmistakably, when Lewis Hamilton considers the golden age of Formula One, a certain soulful nostalgia takes hold.

‘I drove one of Ayrton Senna’s cars, the 1989, for a few laps around the national circuit at Silverstone once,’ he says. ‘It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Senna, Gilles Villeneuve — they were very similar. That’s what I wanted to adopt, I wanted to be like them, and I think I drive now in the way I imagine Senna would drive. That’s the only way I know. They were the best, what they did was the best, and I want to master it as well.’

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New chapter: Lewis Hamilton began his first Formula One season with Mercedes after leaving McLaren

Top that! Hamilton shows off new tattoo on Malibu beach (above) and with girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger (below)



Art work: Hamilton has three tattoos on his arm

Hamilton shows off new tattoo

The giant cross on his back is the latest in a string of religious tattoos for the 28-year-old, who always wears a crucifix round his neck while racing.

Lewis Hamilton, a Christian and regular churchgoer, also has the image of an angel etched into his right forearm and a picture of Mary and Jesus on his upper arm.

Above the cross on his back are the words ‘Still I Rise’.

The phrase is the title of a celebrated poem by African-American poet Maya Angelou. However, Mr Hamilton may be more familiar with a rap song of the same name by his favourite musician Tupac Shakur.

Tupac’s song Keep Ya Head Up was inspired by Angelou’s poem. A posthumous album of his rap songs was called Still I Rise when it was released in 1999, three years after his death.

Hamilton has too much to achieve in the here and now to waste his time on impossible fantasies but he knows that, in his desire to emulate Senna, he is a throwback to a more nobly dramatic time. The racing Hamilton most admires, from 25 years ago, is barely recognisable today.

Senna’s age was less forgiving, less technically mind-blowing and, tragically, more dangerous. It was still about the car as much as its pilot but there was more humanity in the outcome, more freedom to simply compete at the brink of endurance.



What Hamilton loves most about racing, street circuits, the adrenaline, the peril, that incongruous marriage of abandon and precision, is what drove Senna, too.

Hamilton is far from reckless, but he admits his immersion in the style that makes many consider Senna the greatest of all time.



Formula One circuits in those days were less forgiving. Senna had to gradually take his car to the limit, exploring how fast he could go without crossing a very unforgiving line; these days, run-off tracks mean a driver can take a chance and know he will be forgiven.



Hamilton is almost disdainful.

Running the risk: Hamilton says world champion Sebastian Vettel runs his car onto the astroturf

On the edge: Vettel will sometimes run his car over the kerb, which has gone unpunished in the past

‘If you watch Sebastian Vettel now,’ he says, ‘he always runs over the astroturf and over the kerb a little more than he should, going beyond the white line, which you’re not actually allowed to do but they let you get away with it.



‘In Senna’s day, if he went one foot over that kerb, it would be grass and he would spin, and be penalised. He would be right on the limit, rather than over the limit — and I respect that style of driving more.



‘Now you can go beyond and get back because modern tracks have run-off areas. They used to be gravel. Hit that, and your car was damaged or stuck. Now you can push beyond, go wide and come back on.

‘When you do and get away with it, you think, “Great”, but the reason I love street circuits like Monaco is there is no room for error and if you make a mistake, you pay. I don’t want people to pay by being hurt, but losing time, or having the car stop; that’s what racing is about.

‘That’s why you’ve got to have so much admiration for the guys who did it back then. I like that it’s safer now but the cars then were raw — they had a gear stick. You watch Senna at Monaco and he’s one-handed most of the time, over-steering. That’s really cool. So cool.



‘I think that would have brought a lot more out of me, the time before the driver aids came in. Now it’s so technical, sitting around talking about hydraulic dip. I have tons of buttons — 26 on a Mercedes steering wheel — and to understand and utilise them all is a science in itself.

At the limit: Ayrton Senna (left) drove in a time where grass would surround the track rather than astroturf

Legendary: Hamilton has admiration for one of the true greats of the sport, Senna

Cool: Hamilton (left) would have loved to have driven in the same era as Senna (right)



Tragedy: Senna died after a high-speed crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix

'Some drivers become cautious with age. But I’m not the type to do that. I won’t be more cautious for anything, that’s not the way I’m built.'

‘So, if I could choose an era, I would love to have driven in Senna’s time, 1988, 1989. The cars were dangerous then. When I went around Silverstone in his car, I went flat-out and my head felt so exposed. I thought to myself, “Jeez ...those guys”.



'I’ve driven the Mercedes W125 from the 1930s, too — no seatbelt, you turn too quickly and you just roll out of the thing.



‘The challenge now is different. It’s more of a technical challenge.

‘I raced Formula Three and I got bored with it, but Formula One changes every year. I have to dissect every piece of information about tyres, about downforce, about fuel-saving, and then still take on the other drivers. After Monaco, you get a big headache, because your eyes are moving all the time and you’re so focused.



Similarity: Both Hamilton and Senna (pictured in 1984) were fond of the track at Monaco

In heaven: Hamilton enjoys the small margin for error found on tracks like the one at Monaco

Another hero: Hamilton believes Gilles Villeneuve was a similar driver to Senna

‘Ayrton described Monaco as an out-of-body experience by the end, when you get in that zone. It can take a couple of hours to come down after the race, with the dehydration, too. My knees kill me after races. That’s the pressure you put through the brake and the throttle.

‘You hear some drivers who become more cautious with age, maybe they have kids and they lose the will to put the car on the edge. But I’m not the type to do that. I won’t be more cautious for anything, that’s not the way I’m built.



'It’s got to be dangerous for me. If you take away the danger from Formula One, I wouldn’t do it any more. But it’s still dangerous enough. When I’m driving a qualifying lap right on the edge, it’s dangerous all right.’

Different animal: Hamilton believes the cars drivers race in today are more of a technical challenge

Complex: Hamilton says just learning what all the buttons on the dash are for is a science in itself

'Things are great with my dad now. It didn’t happen immediately. There have been a lot of talks but time is a healer. '

And when he is not driving qualifying laps, he is behind the wheel of a dune buggy or a quad bike, or snowboarding, jet-skiing or rock-climbing. He tells hair-raising tales of taking blind summits on the sand, or racing around the Nurburgring, the infamous 14-mile circuit where Niki Lauda almost lost his life.



He denies he is addicted to the release of adrenaline, but his anecdotes, told casually over lunch at The Pig’s Ear pub in west London, all contain an element of danger.

A souped-up snowplough ride that ended with man and machine buried in an unexpectedly high drift, hair-rising adventures across sand dunes and flat-out around Nordschleife (a section of the Nurburgring), the track that has every petrolhead, even the most professional, under its spell.

‘That place is scary, and the more dangerous racing is — to a point — the more it appeals,’ Hamilton explains. ‘Not dangerous because I want someone to get hurt, but there are no run-off areas at Nordschleife, so it is like a street circuit and that’s great.



‘I’ve pushed myself around there, been on the edge, loved it. Taken off — there is one part where you just take off and drop down, and the car bottoms out. I never think, as a driver, what happens if it goes wrong. That is what gives you the excitement, being on the edge of spinning off, or hitting a wall.



‘That’s why I ride quad bikes or go rock climbing. The essence is danger. I hope nothing will happen. I don’t just go flat-out and hope for the best. I’m sensible. I don’t get hurt because I don’t take stupid risks. So I don’t feel I’m addicted to adrenaline. I don’t feel I’m an addicted person at all, really.



Job done: Hamilton (right) celebrated winning the 2008 world championship with his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger

Proud moment: Nick Hamilton (right) and Nicole Scherzinger were moved after his triumph at the Brazilian race

‘I could stop. I have control over it. When I go to my home in Colorado, I might have 10 friends with me and before they have a go on my toys, everyone gets a lesson in what to do and what not to do, I’ll lead the pack and then I’ll let them go, but I’ll still keep an eye on them all.



‘Their lives are in my hands. I’m responsible. My limit is so much beyond everyone else’s that I don’t have to go as far to make everyone s*** themselves.



‘If I take Martin Brundle out on the track, it’s different. I really have to push to get him to feel anything. It’s the same with me. People would have to do a lot to put me on edge. I’m a very good passenger. I relax. I sleep. I’m not fazed.



‘I’ve had drivers who have been really nervous, and others who thought they had to prove something. I’m like, “Dude — we’re not in a rush. Just calm down”.’

The year 2012 was momentous for Hamilton. He ended a 14-year association with McLaren to sign for Ross Brawn’s Mercedes team. Sir Jackie Stewart claimed it would prove the biggest mistake of his career, but Hamilton has recorded four top-five finishes this season, his most consistent run since races 13 to 16 in 2011 with McLaren.



Stewart has now amended his views and recently said Hamilton could win his second drivers’ championship as a Mercedes man.

The significance of leaving the controlling McLaren machine is not lost on Hamilton, either. He admits there are parallels with his decision in 2010 to end his working relationship with his father, Anthony, who had acted as his manager.

Relaxed: Sir Jackie Stewart claimed joining Mercedes would be a mistake, but Hamilton has excelled since leaving McLaren

Amended: Stewart (right) now believes Hamilton could become world champion as a Mercedes man

'There was a point where I was driving and crashing — for no reason. I just wasn’t on the ball. In this job you can’t be thinking of anything else, you need to be focused all the time'

Hamilton is still signed to a management company and two of its senior employees sit around the table as we talk, but he is as much his own man now as any major sportsman.



He says this is the happiest he has felt, free of both parental control and a racing team that took an interest in its employees’ conduct right down to their facial hair and the placement of coffee cups on office furniture. McLaren drivers have their buttons pushed as expertly as any on-board computer.



‘I’m hoping people have changed their perception of me since 2007,’ Hamilton says. ‘I was in a very controlled environment for as long as I remember and only recently have I come out of that. Nothing controls me now. I’ve obviously got a boss in Ross Brawn, but now I make the decisions and I don’t have to report to anyone.



‘There was a time when I would make a call and worry about it, that I was wrong, because of the way I was raised to look to my dad. It felt like a lot of pressure and I don’t have that now. I can call my dad and tell him I’ve bought a house or a car and share it with him. It’s a different chemistry.



‘Things are great with my dad now. It didn’t happen immediately. There have been a lot of talks but time is a healer. It was about getting things off your chest.



Godfather: Ron Dennis is the man people go to at McLaren with their problems

'The driver I admire most is Fernando Alonso for his sheer speed. I don’t think anyone can match him in the sport.'

‘Sure, there are parallels between leaving Ron Dennis and redefining the relationship with my father. They are both powerful, ambitious people. My dad is the head of the whole family. He’s like the Godfather and everyone goes to him with their problems. And Ron is like that at McLaren.

‘I think I’ve definitely developed a thicker skin. In the early stages, I was affected by everything. At the start, it’s easier to get stung. I’m more consistent now because my mental strength has improved. So when Jackie Stewart talks about me, I just laugh it off.

‘Some people are nosey, or they’ve nothing better to do. They’re entitled to their opinions, but Jackie talks a lot. It was my worst decision moving to Mercedes and then he flipped it and said we can win the World Championship.

‘It’s taken me all that time to get here. In my personal life, about three years ago I had someone saying things that were affecting me and the racing wasn’t going well, so there was a lot of negative media, too. It bothered me. It felt like an attempt to put me in that position and it caused a lot of problems.



Bridge building: Hamilton decided to end the working relationship with his father, Anthony, in 2010

Time is a healer: Hamilton says he is the happiest he has ever been at the moment

‘There was a lack of energy, a lack of motivation. It almost felt like depression because it did a lot of the same things, sapping your will to act, to perform. I couldn’t focus on the job.



‘There was a point where I was driving and crashing — for no reason. I just wasn’t on the ball. In this job you can’t be thinking of anything else, you need to be focused all the time. I could still drive fast, but I couldn’t stay focused. I was distracted. That person wasn’t aiming to help me. Somehow I got through it. I no longer let negative energy surround me and I’ve learned how to deal with it.



‘I stayed up a lot thinking about the move to Mercedes. I can overthink things at times. I did consider what my dad would feel, but I tried not to involve too many people because the call had to come from me. I went to Thailand on my own and made that decision on my own. I had two options, but as someone who likes adrenaline and excitement, one was riskier than the other. So I went with that one.

‘It felt like leaving home — taking that leap. Had I stayed, I would have been protected but been in the same environment with people I had known my whole life. Mercedes was all brand new and it was all on me, to build those relationships with no time to mess around and no time for mistakes. That felt most interesting.’

No 1 fan: Hamilton's long-term girlfriend Scherzinger can often be seen cheering on her man

Jet setters: The pair are pictures at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix while Hamilton was still at McLaren

Thick and thin: Scherzinger watches Hamilton pull into the wrong pit lane at the Malaysian Grand Prix this season

The major talking point of this Formula One season has been the clash at the Malaysian Grand Prix between Mark Webber and Vettel of Red Bull. Webber was leading the race and Vettel was ordered to follow him home in second position, for the benefit of the team.



Webber turned down his engine to look after the car and was immediately attacked by Vettel, who went on to win. Webber was understandably furious. The friction between the pair reminds most of the stormy relationship between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at McLaren. Again, Hamilton now sees it merely as a matter of growing up.

‘It’s funny, but the driver I admire most is Fernando — for his sheer speed, his simply incredible speed,’ he adds. ‘I don’t think anyone can match him in the sport.



Growing up: Hamilton admires former team-mate Fernando Alonso (left) for his 'sheer speed'

Remind you of anyone? Vettel (right) and Mark Webber have a fractious relationship at Red Bull

Tight: Vettel ignored team orders and squeezed past Webber to win in Malaysia

‘Now I’m older, I’m sure we would have a different relationship. There would still be intense moments because we are both quick, so we would be very close to each other, but we’ve both matured a lot. I think I’m much better at nurturing relationships between team-mates now. It depends on the drivers.



‘Put Sebastian with Fernando Alonso and the team would be in trouble straight away, the chemistry would just...’ He whistles.