Lewis Hamilton has said he would prefer to be judged by his own achievements in Formula One, instead of being compared to drivers of the past.
The world champion is on course to become the first British driver to win back-to-back titles with four victories from the opening eight races this term.
He heads into his home race at Silverstone on Sunday with a 10-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, whom he beat to the championship last year.
A third title will see Hamilton join fellow Briton Sir Jackie Stewart as a thrice-world champion. But the 30-year-old, who finished behind Rosberg in both practice sessions here on Friday, is only interested in the here and now.
Hamilton said: "A lot of fans like to compare, like Jim Clark did this, or James Hunt did that and I'm like 'so?' This is my time and this is how I do it.
"It's just strange how people want everyone to do the same thing as the people back in the day - this is how a Formula One driver behaves and this is how a Formula One driver looks. This is how a Formula One driver should be, and talk, and it is just funny for me," said Hamilton who wore a pair of cut-off jeans, designer sunglasses and a gold chain with a cross, as he conducted his media duties on Thursday.
"There was never ever a black driver before, firstly, so I'm much different to any of the ones in the past. Let's do me."
Hamilton, who has a greater social media following than any other grand prix driver but bizarrely failed to rank among the fans' top three drivers in a recent survey, was also critical of the negativity that swirls around on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.
"I posted something about gay rights recently, and to see the negativity coming from people was just disgusting," Hamilton added.
"T hat negativity, they're sharing with so many people. It's just a shame that the world is still doing that.
"The problem is nowadays that people judge for every single thing. Everything. Instead of just keeping it to themselves, they're quick to comment on other people.
"In the last couple of years it's really been me just doing me. This is who I am, take it or leave it. In this past year I've grown in terms of the mechanism to cope with those negatives and just get past it quicker."
Source: PA
