Lewis Hamilton: I'll get back to my best in 2018 after I stop partying

Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, admitted he partied too much after winning his fourth world title which contributed to a late-season slump. Photo / AP

Lewis Hamilton has assured Mercedes of a return to his best form for the first grand prix of 2018 after acknowledging that his extravagant celebrations of a fourth world title had contributed to a late-season wobble.

Having reeled off five victories in six races after the summer break to become Britain's first quadruple Formula One champion, Hamilton crashed in qualifying in Brazil and then finished second behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas in an anti-climactic finale in Abu Dhabi.

It was a mirror image of his slump upon wrapping up a third championship in 2015, when he lost the three final grands prix to Nico Rosberg, who also won the first four of 2016 to build an advantage that ultimately proved decisive.

Hamilton, who explained that he had hoped to avoid a similar situation this time, said: "There is zero concern for me. It is clear that something happens when you win the championship, and in the week after I won the title in Mexico I partied a lot."

"That is what you do. I still drove relatively well, but I would not say I was at 100 per cent, as I was during the rest of the season. My sleep and energy has definitely been different at these last couple of races."

"I have tried to approach them in the same way, but if you do not prepare properly, you do not get the right results. I am not bothered about that. Next year it will go back to how it was in the second half of the season."

Hamilton spent the days after sealing the title in Mexico partying with friends in Miami and trekking in Peru. He will finally receive the champion's trophy at the FIA's prize-giving gala in Paris on Friday and intends to begin talks with Mercedes over coming weeks over a contract renewal that could secure him a record £45 million a year.

Toto Wolff, the Silver Arrows' team principal, said: "It is pretty obvious that we are the team of choice for Lewis, and Lewis is the driver of choice for us. We have performed well together this season, and we want to continue for a few more years."

Mercedes were unassailable under the desert sunset in Abu Dhabi, where overtaking has been fiendishly difficult in each of the race's nine instalments. Their two cars finished almost 20 seconds clear of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, but Wolff was wary of extrapolating such dominance into predictions of further glory next year.

"I don't feel we should be tapping ourselves on the shoulder," he said. "I would rather remain sceptical about the deficits of the car. While we had the quickest car, she was also a capricious diva. We would like to keep the diva, but get rid of her capricious character."