On the verge of his second title, Lewis Hamilton is already looking ahead to the time when he hangs up his helmet.

"A lot of drivers come back as commentators, but I personally have different plans and aspirations," he told reporters after Sunday's victory, which extended his championship lead to 24 points. "So it's about positioning myself so that when I stop I have something to continue on with.

"There's going to be an undeniable urge to get back in the car," he admitted, "because I've been racing since I was eight years old. That's going to be natural. I remember Mika (Hakkinen) wanting to come back... it's like a drug.

"At some stage, when I retire, I'll have something that I'm also really interested in that is a substitute for racing. So that's something I want to start working towards now. I'm not taking on a management team or anything like that."

Over the weekend, the Briton confirmed that he is no longer managed by Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment, revealing that he intends negotiating his own new contract with Mercedes, the Stevenage Rocket was also keen to dismiss claims that he was unhappy with Fuller.

"My management team was great at giving me support," he said. "It wasn't particularly guiding me, ultimately I made my own decisions. I hired them to help me make the opportunities visible.

"I'm quite comfortable doing it myself," he said of his negotiations with Mercedes. "Nico (Rosberg) did his himself, Sebastian (Vettel) did his himself, there's no reason I couldn't do it myself. Whether or not I will, I haven't decided. I hope to see a long future with this team. Nothing needs to be changed too much."

Asked if he might once again seek the services of his father, Hamilton replied: "Nope. Me and my Dad have a great relationship, he's aware of where I am, and proud of where I am."

Sunday's win saw Hamilton overtake Nigel Mansell to become Britain's most successful driver in terms of wins. The Mercedes driver was quick to pay tribute to his countryman.

"I hadn't been thinking about it all before the race," he said. "Even when I crossed the line, I was just so excited. But then my engineer said something about it, and I thought, wow. To be with Nigel, with those greats, I do feel very proud at what I have achieved.

"Nigel has been very supportive this year," he added. "It's good to have support. I see a lot of negative stories and negative things said from legendary ex-drivers and I always think to myself, ‘why would you not want to be supporting me? We're from the same place'. So it's great to have that support from Nigel, who has achieved a huge amount, who has said I was there, I did it, owned the T-shirt.

"One day, when I'm gone and I come back to watch, I want to be supportive. I want to be seeing the next Brit come through and to be encouraging rather than kicking them in the guts. I want to be inspiring young drivers rather than talking crap."

We wonder who he means...

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Bender6, 08/11/2014 21:23

"Lewis is simply a product of his time, much like James Hunt was, they both like to live large in the public eye, it's just how you do that is different now. I just hope he isn't planning a reality tv show..."

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 05/11/2014 17:28

"Like most sportsmen & women today Lewis is completely wrapped-up in what he does. That seems to be the only way to meet all the demands.
Yes it all sounds a bit callow & self-centred, but that's no reason to be downright offensive

A cynic might detect a smidgen of jealousy in these curmudgeonly posts..... "

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3. Posted by ESTMPRFT, 05/11/2014 17:04

"Not to be sarcastic, but I can't resist: He's planning his next tats and how to become a member of Justin Bieber's entourage. I think that's about as cerebral as LH gets...."

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4. Posted by Tommy Tipper, 04/11/2014 20:30

"Rich - he's not on "right now""

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5. Posted by rich, 04/11/2014 15:36

"kiwi2 you an always do that by just turning off the TV right now."

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6. Posted by Tommy Tipper, 04/11/2014 15:03

"Or his daft girlfriend "

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7. Posted by kiwi2wheels, 04/11/2014 12:20 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 04/11/2014 12:43)

"I truly hope whatever he does , we never have to hear from or see him again.

Edited by the moderators"

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Hamilton looking beyond F1

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