Lewis Hamilton insists he heads into the new Formula One season a more well-rounded character in light of his past experiences.

In three years, Hamilton has endured more ups and down than many drivers go through in an entire career, and he feels that is to his benefit.

'Spy-gate' and 'lie-gate' have been the undoubted negatives, but there have been 11 grand prix wins, 17 poles and a world title in 2008 to fall back on and comfortably overshadow those bad times.

Hamilton also knows what it is like to drive a wretched car, as he endured throughout the first half of last year before McLaren turned their campaign around over the second half.

The 25-year-old maintains, though, it is not just F1 that has made him the driver and character he is today, but also the many years in building up to his breakthrough.

"People only see my career in Formula One," said Hamilton.

"They don't see what I did before I got here and the struggles I had in different years and different races.

"I have been in positions where I've not been competitive enough and struggled to compete for a good position.

"It's just that doing it in Formula One is even harder than in those other times because you're in the public eye.

"But the experiences of knowing how to deal with it, how to handle yourself through the pressure times, and how you carry yourself have definitely helped round me a little bit."

Hamilton concedes, though, there is no experience like Formula One for being thrown into the deep end and forced to either swim fast or sink without trace.

"Bit by bit you grow up," added Hamilton.

"In this business I've had to grow up and mature a lot faster than other kids who are at school and having fun going out at weekends.

"You sacrifice a lot to get to where you are, and in the last couple of years I've had a lot of growing up to do."

It is part of the growing-up process that Hamilton opted to part with father Anthony as his manager on the eve of this season.

Hamilton maintains he did so to build a father-son relationship away from the bubble that is F1.

So for qualifying today and tomorrow's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Anthony will find himself in the unaccustomed position of catching the action on the television.

"It definitely feels different but it feels good," nodded Lewis as he assessed his new-found personal situation.

"I've probably had the most relaxed time I've ever had. I don't know why. I think I'm just in a different place, different frame of mind compared to the past.

"For me it's not about being in charge. It's a different feeling, a different position to be in, a way of lightening the load.

"I'm no more in charge than when my dad was here. It's not like he was in charge or anything, he was just there to support me.

"I guess it's about growing up, a mixture of things really.

"My family have been to every single race since I was a kid, and yet I look at the other drivers and they're standing on their own two feet."

Hamilton heads into qualifying in a strong position after clocking the second quickest time at the end of yesterday's two 90-minute practice sessions, sandwiched by the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.