I am my own man now, says Lewis Hamilton

British driver happy with freedom at Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 title winner, believes he was moulded by ‘The Godfather’ of McLaren, Ron Dennis to eventually gain his independence at Mercedes, according to Sky Sports.

A decade-long relationship came to an end when Hamilton decided to sign a contract with Mercedes at the end of last season. He finally took the step to become his own man at his new found team after being groomed from boyhood in Formula One by Dennis.

“At McLaren, Ron is the Godfather,” Hamilton told The Daily Mirror. “Naturally there does come that power. I don’t know if it’s about fear but there were definitely parallels.

“I have been in a very controlled environment since I can remember and it’s not until the last couple of years that I’ve come out of that control.

“No one controls me now. Obviously I’ve got bosses at Mercedes in Ross Brawn, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda. I make decisions I want to make now. I’m my own man and that’s what I always wanted.”

Hamilton could partner with Alonso

Hamilton has said he could see him and Fernando Alonso partnering up and moving past the solitary and mutually-destructive season they had shared at McLaren in 2007.

Even though both the drivers have been open about their admirations of each other’s talents, but the aftermath of their almost civil-war like partnership six years ago – culminating in both men losing out on the World Championship to Kimi Raikkonen – makes a reunion seem implausible.

However, an older and wiser Hamilton believes otherwise.

“Now I’m older, I’m sure we would have a different relationship,” Hamilton told The Daily Mail. 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’m better at nurturing relationships between teammates now. It depends on the drivers.”

But, their reunion is a remote possibility as Alonso is in a tight contract with Ferrari and the Scuderia are reputedly reluctant to pair two superstars together.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.