BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One (original) (raw)

Interview by Adam Parsons
BBC sports news correspondent

	I go to the bathroom in a petrol station and people come in there for autographs

Formula One star Lewis Hamilton is to move to Switzerland to escape the excessive public and media attention he has had in Britain over the last year.

The McLaren driver, who came second in the drivers' championship in his debut F1 season, will join Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in Switzerland.

"Over there people don't come up to you, they leave you alone and give you space," the 22-year-old told BBC Sport.

"I'm going to a country that I don't know but it's very exciting."

Ironically, the news comes the day after his home town of Stevenage announced that it was naming a street after the McLaren driver.

Switzerland is a popular choice for F1 drivers looking to relocate, with Alonso and Raikkonen - his rivals in this season's thrilling title chase - already living there, along with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Financial issues may also have played a part in Hamilton's thinking, with wealthy Switzerland residents paying significantly less tax than in the UK.

Hamilton, talking after visiting children at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said he had taken the decision with some reluctance.

"It was a tough decision. My dream for years was to move to London - I stayed at a friend's house this weekend in London and I woke up in the morning and just knew it was where I wanted to be," he added.

"But I'll meet new people, new faces and I do have a few friends there and my family and friends from home will be able to come and visit me."

Hamilton said he had found it impossible to live a normal life since soaring to fame in an astonishing rookie season in the sport.

"When I was coming up I knew there were sacrifices you have to make," he said.

	At the end of the year we had a big hug and we said what a phenomenal year it had been Hamilton on his relationship with McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso

"You lose your ability to go places - you don't understand what that means until you get there and you really struggle to lead a normal life.

"I haven't been able to spend much time with my friends or my family - it's not like a normal job, you're travelling all the time, you live out of your suitcase and it's tough to manage that and still live a normal life.

"When you come home and everybody knows you, it makes it so much harder to do normal things.

"I can't go to the cinema. I go to the bathroom in a petrol station and people come in there for autographs."

Hamilton insisted that his relationship with McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso was not as strained as has been widely reported.

"Me and Fernando get on as well as any other two people working together," he said.

"We're not best friends and he doesn't call me up to come to my house but we say 'hi' - sometimes we play PlayStation, sometimes we have dinner together.

"At the end of the year we had a big hug and we said what a phenomenal year it had been and I said it had been a pleasure working with him.

"I don't know who is going to be my team-mate next year, I'm not particularly bothered. If it's going to be Fernando then great, but I'm really not fussed either way."