Lewis Hamilton is a man who is not accustomed to criticism. Since he burst onto the Formula One scene at a tender age, the media have lauded him with plaudits and have praised his maturity and apparent ability to cope with extreme pressure.

However, this trend has changed slightly yet significantly in recent months. The golden boy of Formula One seems to be losing his halo, at least in the eyes of the British press. The most recent criticism has concerned Hamilton’s performance at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He ruined the chance to increase the gap between himself and his title rival, Felipe Massa, as a result of making moves which did not need to be made. He lost the lead on just the first corner and was penalised for forcing Kimi Raikkonen off the track in a desperate attempt to regain pole position.

His increasing tendency to make small but devastating mistakes whilst on the track has been noticed and preyed upon by British journalists. Indeed, the media have been whipped into a frenzy trying to pick apart the psyche of the young star.

This criticism has forced Hamilton to issue a defensive statement concerning his recent performances on the track. The 23 year-old has reminded the general public that he is “only human, and every now and then people make mistakes”.

Hamilton’s problem is that even when he tries to portray his “human” side, his words are manipulated by the press and often end up communicating a message far removed from the one originally intended. Hamilton cited one example of this during his statement. He spoke of how important “communication” is to him and the unfortunate manner in which his words are twisted by others: “there have been lots of different quotes attributed to me.

Sometimes I’ve said things that have either come out the wrong way or been taken out of context”. Hamilton continued to defend a comment he recently made about his hero, Ayrton Senna.

The young driver was ridiculed in the press for apparently stating that he believed he was more talented than the legendary Senna. However, Hamilton has now denied ever saying this and insists that he would be happy to “achieve just a small part of what he’s achieved”.

Ultimately, Hamilton is trying hard to play down rumours that he is becoming an arrogant star of the sport and is being adversely affected by celebrity culture. This culture has ruined the public image of stars of several other sports, such as Ashley Cole.

Hamilton, however, feels that he has “that area of his life under control”, not seeing himself personally as a “celebrity”. The problem is that the media will undoubtedly do all they can to ruin the young star’s sense of control. Whilst Hamilton recognises this, stating that “you do get people watching you all the time so you have to be careful about what you say or what you do”, he will have to get used to having his words and actions twisted and altered by others who have an interest in selling newspapers.

Written by Charlotte Cook