British driver shoots himself in the foot days before his home grand prix at Silverstone just as he finally seems to be feeling the love he craves

Silverstone will host a legion of fans this weekend revelling in Lewis Hamilton’s skill behind the wheel, yet this master of the Formula One universe still harbours doubts as to how they really feel about him. Willing and wilful, his character is compelling and complex, so it may be little wonder he still feels the need to prove himself to the British public.

Hamilton, who trails Sebastian Vettel by 20 points in the championship, has three world titles and one more would make the 32-year-old the most successful British driver of all time. There has been glory and disappointment and through it all he has worn his heart on his sleeve but he still believes he is misunderstood by those who will flock to the unglamorous but much-loved former airfield.

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Last year, after taking his fourth win at the Northamptonshire track, the mutual admiration between driver and fans seemed to be at its apogee. He joined them to celebrate and in a moment of spontaneous joy launched himself into their hands to crowd surf. It was reminiscent of the fervour shown when Nigel Mansell won after chasing down Nelson Piquet in 1987. This was not even Hamilton’s greatest performance – that honour still goes to his first win at Silverstone in 2008, a masterclass in the wet. Yet nine years on Hamilton remains doubtful that his feelings for his home country are reciprocated.

“Does my love for the UK feel that it is reflected in equal amounts?” he says. “I don’t know. I think the love that I get when I go to the British Grand Prix is immense. I’ve obviously had a lot of support in the UK.

“Do people know how much I love the UK? Maybe not enough. But hopefully when I’m on the podium and I carry the flag, hopefully people will start to see my patriotism. It’s something I’m very proud of and maybe that’s just going to take time.”

Do people know how much I love the UK? Maybe not enough. But hopefully on the podium people will see my patriotism

Hamilton grew up in Stevenage but moved to Monaco and now calls a ranch in Colorado home. He unashamedly lives a jet-set lifestyle, one most young men can only fantasise about, which just seems to antagonise his detractors. He acknowledges it plays a part when asked to consider why his patriotism is questioned. “I think it’s probably a reflection of a long time of a lot of shit that’s gone on,” he says. “I don’t know. Misinterpreted things that have been written. The way I live my life maybe? Maybe where I live.”

Yet misinterpretation is understandable as he presents a persona that refuses to be reduced to one dimension. Two years ago, he explained why he felt he always had time for fans. In 1996, aged 11, Eddie Irvine had ignored his request for a picture. “I remembered from that moment that I never wanted to do that,” he said.

It was no idle promise. Hamilton is punctilious in making time for fans. Last season at Hungary he was caught by a family as he was climbing into his car. He got out, signed and posed for selfies until the clan was happy. Similarly in Belgium last year the pleasure he brought to a child when he not only stopped for a picture but knelt next to him was palpable.

The media may get short shrift but connecting is important. “I just wish that when I go to those grands prix there was more time to see more of the fans,” he says. “You see them at such a distance, it sucks. The crowd surfing thing was the greatest thing because it was the first time I really got to engage with the fans in a different way.”

Then this week, the engagement disappeared and instead left only disappointment. Hamilton was the only driver who chose not to take part in Wednesday’s F1 demonstration held in London. He would have been the main attraction but chose to go on holiday for two days. It brought a thinly veiled criticism from the Formula One Group. “We invited teams and drivers to join us at F1 Live London and we had a fantastic response from all the teams and 19 of the drivers,” the sport’s new owner said, disappointed by the no-show.

Hamilton does not like to be told what to do but choosing to be contradictory to make a point about who is in charge is best not achieved at the expense of the people with whom he would connect.

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Yet he is insistent of the import the British Grand Prix still has for him. “You absorb a little bit more strength and power from the energy of that crowd,” he says. “You give it everything you’ve got because you want to deliver for them and the roar when you cross the line, you can almost be sure the guy behind, they’ll hear that roar and that strength at the line.”

He says it is the most important race of the year and is concerned at Silverstone’s decision to potentially drop the race after 2019. “It’s that important part of the British racing heritage and it’s the place where we really get to showcase it,” he says, while backing the idea of a race in the capital. “I hope in the future there is a London Grand Prix, that would be awesome.” It clearly does mean a lot. Pride in representing his country motivates him to match and potentially pass the records of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. “I’m proud I can be a part of putting a Brit up there,” he says. “For ages it’s been a Brazilian and a German, so I hope that at the end of my time us Brits can say there is a British driver up there.”

Ultimately this incongruity is Hamilton writ large. He wants to connect, to be understood and accepted by those at the heart of all sport, the fans. He wants them behind him and being in central London on Wednesday would have gone a long way to making it happen, but sometimes it seems he still cannot quite identify just when actions speak louder than words.