Hamilton admits he is not perfect

London, May 22 (ANI): Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has put his nightmare start to the season behind him, admitting that he is not perfect.

Hamilton has seen his hopes of retaining the title vanish in the wake of fellow Brit Jenson Button's storming exploits.

Hamilton was also caught up in controversy off the track after admitting he lied to race stewards at the opening race in Australia, The Sun reports.

He knows his image suffered as a result of the scandal, which saw his McLaren team receive a three-race suspended ban for trying to gain an extra point.

But Hamilton, 24, reckons the tough times will benefit him as a person. "I am definitely stronger. I am not perfect. I am not a politician. I say things wrong every now and then."

"But you try to learn and to take these experiences with you and try to grow. I won the world championship, which is something I am very, very proud to have. It's just taking time to analyse what's gone on and then be able to grow from it.

"You can't just move on. You have to analyse it and that's what we've tried to do. I feel as a driver that if I had last year's car, I would be in a great position," Hamilton added.

Hamilton, who earns around 15million pound a year, insists he is no sporting superstar despite having a pop-star girlfriend in Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger.

"I think what people don't realise is that while it looks glamorous as a sport and while we look like superstars, we lead pretty normal lives. We might go on a nicer holiday, which I am sure is nice, but our normal lives are the same as everyone else's.

Hamilton heads into Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix trailing Button by 32 points with 12 races left. (ANI)