After two ultra successful seasons in formula one, the 2008 world champion was unable to defend his title because MP4-24 lacked speed relative to its competitors, with McLaren tailing the timesheets 2.6 seconds off the front-runners pace during winter testing.
'I've learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back,' said Hamilton.
'I've grown as a man, and as a driver - I've faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did – even from one year ago.
'I also think we are a much closer group now, too.
'We've known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter – we've been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better.
'That's something I really appreciate – and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season.
'To be honest, I'm ready to go racing again next week – at the moment, I think I can safely say that I'm more in love with F1 than I've ever been, and I just can't wait to get back out there again.'
The 24-year-old said he tried to extract a positive from the difficult experiences from the first half of the season.
'The first difficulty we faced this year was during testing: we knew the car wasn't the fastest but, at the Barcelona test in week 11, it became really clear to us that we were struggling and we just didn't have the pace of the frontrunners,' remembers Hamilton.
'I remember phoning team bosses Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh and explaining to them that we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to turn MP4-24 into a race winner.
'That was a difficult call, but Ron and Martin gave me their full support and we actually started to look at a rescue plan immediately – there was no waiting.
'So what was a difficult experience at first actually turned into a positive one.'
Hamilton said the scandal he was involved in during the opening two round of the season in Melbourne, when he misled the Australian stewards regarding an overtaking move on Jarno Trulli while under safety car conditions, was a difficult experience for him personally.
However, he feels he is a stronger person because of it.
'That was a difficult time for me personally – but I strongly believe that I used that experience to grow as a person and to become stronger through it.
'I'm a firm believer that every experience you have – even the bad ones – help to define and build your character.
'You can't change the past, but you can definitely learn from it, and I overcame that situation in Melbourne, I had the courage and conviction to man up about it in Malaysia and, ultimately, I came out of it stronger.'
'I've learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back,' said Hamilton.
'I've grown as a man, and as a driver - I've faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did – even from one year ago.
'I also think we are a much closer group now, too.
'We've known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter – we've been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better.
'That's something I really appreciate – and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season.
'To be honest, I'm ready to go racing again next week – at the moment, I think I can safely say that I'm more in love with F1 than I've ever been, and I just can't wait to get back out there again.'
The 24-year-old said he tried to extract a positive from the difficult experiences from the first half of the season.
'The first difficulty we faced this year was during testing: we knew the car wasn't the fastest but, at the Barcelona test in week 11, it became really clear to us that we were struggling and we just didn't have the pace of the frontrunners,' remembers Hamilton.
'I remember phoning team bosses Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh and explaining to them that we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to turn MP4-24 into a race winner.
'That was a difficult call, but Ron and Martin gave me their full support and we actually started to look at a rescue plan immediately – there was no waiting.
'So what was a difficult experience at first actually turned into a positive one.'
Hamilton said the scandal he was involved in during the opening two round of the season in Melbourne, when he misled the Australian stewards regarding an overtaking move on Jarno Trulli while under safety car conditions, was a difficult experience for him personally.
However, he feels he is a stronger person because of it.
'That was a difficult time for me personally – but I strongly believe that I used that experience to grow as a person and to become stronger through it.
'I'm a firm believer that every experience you have – even the bad ones – help to define and build your character.
'You can't change the past, but you can definitely learn from it, and I overcame that situation in Melbourne, I had the courage and conviction to man up about it in Malaysia and, ultimately, I came out of it stronger.'
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