Normal guy: Hamilton

"I am not perfect, I am not a politician, I say things wrong every now and then," the 24-year-old told British reporters.

Shaking hands with each and every one of his critics in the room, the Briton signalled that he was willing to mend fences and start afresh. "You try to learn from those experiences, and carry them with you and try to grow," he said.

Hamilton came in for heavy criticism after he and his team were excluded from the season-opening Australian GP for deliberately misleading the stewards.