Sir Jackie Stewart has suggested Lewis Hamilton has lost his determination and focus for a fourth world title after losing the lead of the championship to Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton, who last year became the only Brit to have matched Stewart's tally of three Formula One titles, trails his Mercedes teammate by eight points after the German's win in Singapore. Hamilton was 43 points behind earlier in the season but six wins from seven races saw him go into the summer break with a commanding 19-point lead.
Though an engine penalty made winning in Belgium highly unlikely and a perfect Monza weekend was spoiled by a slow getaway off the line, the world champion was uncharacteristically erratic in Singapore. Stewart thinks the last two and a half years of dominance -- which has seen him beat Rosberg to successive championships -- and Hamilton's extravagant lifestyle could have taken his eyes of the prize of a fourth crown.
"Maybe you can bottom out," Stewart is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "That can happen through consistent success because when you have consistent success everything can seem so easy.
"Suddenly things can go less well -- you overdrive, you are not on the ball, or you live a life that distracts you. If you are at the top in any line of work, you can get carried away with success. You think you can get away with things. Then someone else comes along and drives better or more consistently.
"I was always frightened of being beaten. I always thought there could be someone out there better than me or who might have a better car. So I always worked on that basis. I could never sit back and relax."
Traditionally Hamilton has been strong in the run in, winning the 2014 championship with six wins from the final seven races. Last year he won five of the first six races after the summer break to wrap up the championship at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, with three rounds still to run.