Lewis Hamilton admits his form dropped at the final three races of 2015, but has no doubt he will return at the top of his game at the start of this season.
After winning his third world title with a victory at the U.S. Grand Prix, Hamilton finished second to team-mate Nico Rosberg at the remaining three races. The reigning world champion said his focus shifted away from the track at the end of 2015, but has no doubt he can return to the top of his game when racing starts again at the Australian Grand Prix in March.
"To be honest, my frame of mind shifted after I won the championship last year, the intensity of the championship was over and I enjoyed it more than I ever have enjoyed the end of the season in my career - both inside and outside the car," Hamilton said. "I still arrived and did the job in terms of scoring the points for the team and let's see where it goes from the beginning of this year.
"Mentally, I think I'm very strong and I feel absolutely determined to get back in and it's just in my DNA that I want to win, so it's not like I have to reinvent myself or go and find extra motivation from thin air, it's just there thankfully. I'm sure the competition is going to be stronger than ever this year and I want to make sure I'm stronger than ever so I can face whatever is thrown at me."
Hamilton's dip in form allowed his team-mate to win the final three races, but Rosberg says he is not fussed whether he was beating an on-form or off-form Hamilton at the end of last year.
"I didn't focus on him, so I don't really know because I wasn't focused on him, I was focused on beating everyone else and I was very happy to come back with Finnish 'sisu' fighting spirit from the most difficult point of the season, which was Austin. That was tough to come back fighting strong and win every race from then on. That's what I was pleased with. What other people were doing or not doing, I don't know.
"The good string of results helps me in the sense that it just gives me more confidence going into the new season. That's a good thing and I'm happy about that, but then it is a new season and a new car, the tyres are a bit different so it's not going to just be easy to continue that -- not at all. It's a new situation and everybody starts from scratch, but I'm optimistic."