• Ex-champion admits he was trying to juggle too many issues
• Jenson Button has private dinner with McLaren team-mate

Lewis Hamilton, who admits he was “battling everybody” last season, and Jenson Button have had a private dinner for only the second time since their intense rivalry at McLaren started two years ago.

A relaxed-looking Hamilton has come to terms with the fact that he had too much on his plate on some occasions last year.

“I wasn’t operating on all cylinders,” he said. “There were times when – such as Abu Dhabi – I was on good form, but still not 100%. And that’s where I want to be this season.

“There were times last year when I was juggling too many things. There were too many things hanging over me, too many things which were unfinished, questions in my mind, whether it was purchases, investments, management, lawyers or family.

“There were lots of things and I didn’t have the pieces of the puzzle in the right place. I was all over the place last season. I didn’t think anything was a positive. But I’ve corrected things and now I’ve got a clean slate. I’ve got nothing worrying me.

“Last year I was battling everybody. I was having trouble with stewards, I was having trouble with many different people. I want to fix that. I’m looking forward to having a good relationship with Felipe [Massa] and from the end of last year I’ve been working on my relationship with the stewards. I’ve got to stay out of trouble so I don’t have to visit them so much.”

The two former world champions have always enjoyed a good, though very competitive, professional relationship at the Woking-based factory. But last season was Hamilton’s most difficult in Formula One and he finished second to his team-mate.

As the two men prepared for the first testing session of the season in Jerez this week, Button said: “We went out for dinner after the Brazilian Grand Prix at the end of last season.

“We had some steak and it was fun. The only other time we have dined together was when I signed the contract. It was good. We have spent two long years together and most of the time it has been behind the wheel or in the engineer’s office and we’re always in uniform or answering questions about each other.

“So it felt good to have dinner together and look at the past couple of years and have a laugh about it.” Speaking about his relationship with other drivers, Button added: ” I’m all right with other drivers. I don’t hold a grudge with drivers. If I do something wrong I go and get it out with them immediately.”

The new Formula One season gets under way in Melbourne in six weeks.

Sport: Lewis Hamilton | guardian.co.uk

McLaren have worked hard to avoid last year’s ‘abysmal start’ and it’s looking good so far – but the real test is yet to come

Any chance to visit McLaren’s Technology Centre, Sir Norman Foster’s swooningly beautiful kidney-shaped low-rise building, with its mirror-like lake and elegant landscaping, offers a treat to the eyes, particularly on a glittering winter morning. On Wednesday there was another beauty on hand in the shape of a new Formula One car, the MP4-27, with which the Woking-based team intend to recapture their pre-eminence.

Unveiled by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in a ceremony streamed to sponsors and fans around the world, the new McLaren-Mercedes conforms to regulation changes which ban last year’s exhaust-blown diffusers and impose restrictions on the height of the nose section. It is said by the team’s technical director, Jonathan Neal, to be an evolution of last year’s car, which started the season badly but had more or less caught up with its chief rival by the end of the year, winning six of the series’ 19 races. Button finished second to Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship, while the team were runners-up to Vettel’s near-invincible Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.

“Our biggest problem last year,” Button said after pulling the dust sheet off the new car, “was that we couldn’t get in the laps in the test sessions because of reliability problems, so we couldn’t work on fine-tuning and getting the balance right.”

Martin Whitmarsh, the team’s principal, agreed. “It was an abysmal start,” he said. “We didn’t have reliability or pace. But we’ve put a lot of work into this car and we don’t think we’re going to see a repeat of that.”

The ambition for the coming campaign is to start on the front foot, confirming that the design decisions taken during the 12-month gestation period of the MP4-27 were the right ones. Last year’s U-shaped sidepods have gone, replaced by a more shapely design around the car’s hind quarters. The nose is more shapely than had been expected, given the stipulations of the new rules.

“It going to make a big difference, and it’s given the aerodynamicists a lot to think about,” Button said. “The new regulations take away rear downforce, but I’ve driven cars without it before, and basically you just rebalance. When I first drove it in the simulator it needed quite a bit of work, but I’m happy with the direction we’ve taken.”

In theory, a car with less grip at the rear should suit Hamilton better than his team-mate, who is said to prefer a car with even downforce front and rear. “Our styles of driving are a little bit different,” Button said, “but the way we set up a car is pretty similar.”

Hamilton emphasised the team’s ability to catch up with their rivals’ technical breakthroughs, as they had to do last year when they found themselves lagging behind Red Bull’s use of exhaust gases to increase grip. “We’re the strongest team in terms of development,” he said.

This year they will be hoping that it is others who need to do the catching up, but they are sharply aware that Red Bull’s standards are unlikely to drop. “They’re not suddenly going to build a bad car,” Button said.

The new McLaren will undergo its straight-line aerodynamic test in the next few days in the hands of Oliver Turvey, one of the team’s test drivers, before being taken to Jerez for the first test sessions of the season, from 7-11 February, at which point the world champions of 2008 and 2009 will get their hands on it.

“As you can see, it’s a beautiful car,” Button concluded. “Some of those you’ll see will not be. To me, that’s important.”

Whitmarsh had a quick retort to that. Formula One cars become beautiful, he said, when they start winning races.

Sport: Lewis Hamilton | guardian.co.uk

F1 compilation incidenti lewis hamilton
Video Rating: 5 / 5

• McLaren launch new car at Woking base
• Sutil’s comments are given the brush-off

McLaren launched their new Formula One car before a global audience on Wednesday. And the global audience dutifully gawped in wonder, even though the new creation, the MP4-27, motionless and driverless and tilting sharply to the right, looked as if it had just come off the track at Suzuka’s notorious 130R turn.

McLaren’s more significant relaunch at their glitzy Technology Centre in Woking came in the shape of the sport’s most vivid driver, Lewis Hamilton, who looked a revitalised figure after the most difficult season of his career last year, when he was beset by problems on and off the track.

Hamilton, who was beaten by his team-mate, Jenson Button, for the first time in his McLaren career in a season marked by clashes with stewards and other drivers, has spent much of the winter among the mountains of Colorado.

“I feel fresh,” he said. “I had a really good winter. The team gave me a good bit of time off after such a long season, and obviously we went through a lot. I had friends and family there and was able to find out what they thought and how I could improve. I knew where things were wrong and it’s not easy to clarify them in the mind but I was able to do that. There are still things I’m working on.”

Hamilton, 27 last month, added: “There have been lots of highs and lows but last year was definitely one of he toughest years, personally. And also with the racing. I had a low moment when I lost the championship in 2007 but that was just one moment.

“A lot of it is in the mind. And if you’re clogged up with a lot of things and operating at only 60% there’s a loss of time. But I feel as though I’m back to 100% right now. Last year was one of those years where I had a lot of less energy and less focus where it needed to be. But now the focus is where it needs to be.”

Meanwhile, the 2008 champion has put as much clean air as possible between himself and his former close friend Adrian Sutil after the German driver described him as “a coward”. Sutil was upset by Hamilton’s decision not to testify at the former Force India driver’s two-day trial in Munich this week and hit out after being convicted for causing grievous bodily harm to Eric Lux, chief executive of the Lotus team owners, Genii Capital. After being given an 18-month suspended sentence and fined €200,000 (£167,000) Sutil said: “Lewis is a coward. I do not want to be friends with someone like that. He is for me no man. Even his father sent me a text message and wished me luck for the process. Lewis came with nothing. He has changed his phone number. I could not reach him any more.”

But Hamilton, who did offer a statement for use at the trial, refused to get involved when the issue was raised at Woking on Wednesday. Before Hamilton could answer a question relating to Sutil’s remarks a McLaren spokesman said: “We’ve been told Lewis shouldn’t really go there because it might go under appeal, so can we move on to the next question?”

Hamilton nodded in the direction of the spokesman and said: “I’ll listen to him.”

Sport: Lewis Hamilton | guardian.co.uk

Before the Formula 1-race in Valencia, Lewis Hamilton got a ride in the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid with Niki Lauda. In the private dialogue of world champions, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver delivers insights into his current situation, the joy of being back up front again, and the different possibilities of application of the Hyrid-Technology of the Mercedes-Benz Hyrid-Technology. The Mercedes-Benz S400 Hyrid uses a similar KERS-Hybrid-System like the one used in the Formula 1.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Perfect clone of the infamous Klon Centaur. This is simply the best overdrive/boost pedal I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. I sounds fat and creamy but never becomes muddy. It adds a very slight mid push and breathes life into your guitar tone. Check them out at www.velvetpedals.com Gear: Custom made relic telecaster Egnater rebel 30 head Lewis Hamilton and the Boogie Brothers – more info at www.lewishamiltonmusic.com www.reverbnation.com/lewishamiltonandtheboogiebrothers www.facebook.com/pages/Lewis-Hamilton-and-the-Boogie-Brothers/138089276221616 www.velvetpedals.com
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Rowan Atkinson watching Lewis hamiltons attempted overtake on Felipe Massa at the Indian GP
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Lewis Hamilton drives a Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix racing car. F1 driver Lewis Hamilton drove various cars in aid of The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation for children with cancer.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

McLaren launch their new / first showroom in Dubai and Lewis Hamilton pops in to say hi on his way to the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix 9th Nov 11. More info on www.frontlinef.com
Video Rating: 5 / 5

We follow Formula 1 stars Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton through a day in the life on the Grand Prix circuit. From wandering the pits and signing autographs to the delicate task of getting helmets on and engines fine tuned. Finally we follow them round the track for a few blistering paced practice laps. Using on board cameras and some super slow motion we get to experience a small glimpse of what it’s really like to tear round the track at such extreme speeds. We see just how precise these two outstanding drivers are when it comes to smoothly negotiating difficult corners and exploding onto the straight. Post by Russell Nelson
Video Rating: 5 / 5