Motorsport: I don't need titles - Hamilton

MELBOURNE - World champion Lewis Hamilton says he does not need multiple Formula One titles to be ranked among the sport's greats.

The McLaren-Mercedes star, who last year became the youngest champion in the sport's history and almost clinched the crown in his rookie year in 2007, said he did not need to keep proving himself.

"I don't think so," Hamilton said. "We've had people who have won one world championship, some have won two, some have won seven - but to win the world championship takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

"To firstly get there [to F1] takes a lot then to finally win it takes a lot.

"I'm one point away from being two-time world champion but you don't see that, you only see the world championship part.

"The fact is I led the whole championship in 2007 in my first season and nearly won it."

Hamilton is determined to put last year's success behind him and adopt the attitude of the hunter to stay motivated for back-to-back titles. "It would be nice to win it again and I've reset my goals, starting from scratch. It will be tougher this year though," he said.

Hamilton was referring to the lack of pace demonstrated by the 2009 McLaren which has trailed rivals consistently during pre-season testing.

He insists the team is not "sandbagging", as F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone suggested this week, and says a lot of improvements will have to be made quickly to the cars.

Hamilton yesterday rated his new McLaren-Mercedes challenger just four out of 10.

He said the team had spent too much time focusing on last year's world championship winning car and not enough time developing the 2009 machine. "Last year's car, in marks out of 10, I'd probably give it an eight," Hamilton said. "This year's at the moment it would be a four."

He is mystified by the lack of pace shown during this year's pre-season testing but guesses McLaren waited too long before switching attention to the new car with its required aerodynamic changes. "I honestly don't know. I think we focused so much on last year's car we maybe left it a little bit late to focus on this year's car.

- AAP