Lewis Hamilton has vowed to come back even stonger in 2015 as he already looks to defend his championship crown with Mercedes.
The Briton won the title in style in Abu Dhabi on Sunday by winning the race to take the full 50 points on offer, but he restrained himself in the evening by having a quiet meal with his family before joining his Mercedes team at a celebratory party.
“I had one drink last night and that is more than good for me,” said Hamilton on Monday morning during a press conference in which the other members of the team looked a little worse for wear.
Already looking ahead, Hamilton says he aims to be an even stronger driver next season to give him the best chance of retaining the championship.
“Naturally it is going to be a dream to be able to go into next season and go in even stronger. That will be the goal,” he said.
“I have absolute faith in the team that we will come in very, very strong next year.”
The 29-year-old is aware of the areas he needs to improve, particularly qualifying which saw him outclassed by team-mate Nico Rosberg 12-7.
“This year has shown that race day is the most important,” he added. “But it definitely makes the race twice as hard when you are not ahead of your team-mate with the same car.
“When you look back over the years, there was all that talk that ‘Lewis cannot make his tyres last because of his aggressive driving style’.
“But through the races this year I think I have proved time and again that I use less fuel, I am able to utilise my tyres as good as anyone, and position my car in the right way to be able to get past people and use my racecraft. That is the greatest feeling.
“Of course qualifying is an area that I will work hard to improve on next year, but I have no worries on that.
“Nico did a great job, especially with his qualifying laps, but I will look into the detail to see how I can improve next year.”
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