Following what he described as his worst year ever, Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to 2012 with relish, insisting he's fully focussed on the job in hand.

With several races of the 2011 season still remaining, a McLaren source admitted to Pitpass that even should he win all of them, the English youngster would still regard the year as his Annus horribilis.

Be it his run ins with the stewards, numerous clashes with Felipe Massa, being upstaged by his teammate or his much publicised split with his girlfriend, Lewis was rarely out of the headlines, albeit mostly for the wrong reasons.

However, with a beautiful new car with which to take the fight to Red Bull and Ferrari, Hamilton is eager to get back to work, having made the most of the long break since the season finale in Brazil last November.

"I was just a fantastic winter where I got to spend time with friends and family and really was able to wind down," he told reporters at today's launch of McLaren's 2012 contender. "I let loose for the first week, I did a bit of skiing, ate pancakes, all that stuff I said I wasn't going to do.

"I then got into quite an intense training regime and sat down in between times where I analysed the year and certain things in my personal life which weren't as good as they could be and went about correcting those things. Today I just feel very fresh in my mind and very free of perhaps any of the burdens that I had on me last year.

"What I have decided to do this year is focus on the most important thing and that's racing," he continued. "Of course, I accept that my personal life is in the domain but I'd rather just focus on racing. But things are good. So I'm happy."

Despite the fact that Sebastian Vettel is odds-on favourite for a third successive title, with the bookmakers also favouring Button, who in 2011 became the first teammate ever to beat Hamilton over the course of a season, the Englishman is in fighting mood, keen to prove the doubters wrong.

"I want to win every race and I think I can," he said. "I think I've got the ability to. I think if the car is where we hope the car is, there's no reason why we can't do that.

"The only thing that ever gets in your way is your own mind and your own insecurities or obstacles that you put in your way," he added. "But I think the most important thing is to put those things aside and to overcome them and I think I have. Standing in front of you I feel stronger than I was a few months ago particularly, but even more so than I was last year at the start of the year.

Asked about his future, what with his current contract with McLaren coming to an end this year, Hamilton said: "At the moment the focus is on the preparation we have coming up for the season.

"I think after the first couple of races it's something we will probably want to get out of the way so we can focus on the rest of the year without the team being concerned and without it being something that's just hanging around for us so then you guys won't be having to ask questions about it."