LEWIS HAMILTON has dismissed suggestions his celebrity lifestyle is proving a hindrance to a Formula One career he admits is failing to hit the heights.

Last month’s Belgian Grand Prix proved to be another low point for Hamilton in what has so far been a rollercoaster campaign.

Hamilton took full responsibility for crashing into a barrier after colliding with Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber, his sixth accident in a race this year.

Unsurprisingly, the legends have again had their say as Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda have both reminded Hamilton this week of the old motor-racing adage: to finish first, first you have to finish.

In dating pop star Nicole Scherzinger, employing a high-profile management company in XIX Entertainment and amassing an A-list phone directory on his mobile, it has been suggested he has become too easily distracted.

Asked whether it was a scene he was now pulling back from, Hamilton replied: “No. I’m not searching for it, but I still love doing that stuff. It’s still awesome when you hang around with people like that.

“There will be more things in the future, but at the moment there are more important things to do.

“That is somehow to get this Formula One career at its peak because I don’t feel it’s at it’s highest.

“I don’t feel the performances are at their best, and that’s what I am really trying to focus on most of all.”