Lewis Hamilton says he has never been mentally stronger than he is currently despite a frustrating start to the 2016 season.
Hamilton has claimed pole position at the two races of the year so far but has compromised both with poor starts off the line. He recovered to finish second in Australia and third in Bahrain, meaning he is second in the championship, 17 points behind Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton is refusing to panic by his start because he acknowledges being in worse positions at the early stages of championships before this season.
"It's not been a smooth start to the season for me, so to be in the championship position I'm in right now is actually pretty positive," Hamilton said. "If you can have two bad races and still come away with two podiums, that bodes pretty well. I've come back from worse, that's for sure!
The reigning world champion points to the length of the calendar -- up to a record 21 races this year -- as another reason not to be too concerned by how the year has gone so far.
"People keep asking me if I'm worried -- if there's a downward trend emerging. But I'm feeling the complete opposite. There are no real flaws in our procedure and how we're working, so I know it's going to come good. On a personal level too, I'm in the best place I've ever been psychologically. There's very little, if anything at all, that can penetrate that.
There's a long, long way to go, so I'll just keep working as hard as I have been. Now we go to China for the next battle. It's a track that's been good to me over the years, with five poles and four wins, so hopefully this race can be the turning point."
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