Lewis Hamilton reveals the key habit that Angela Cullen instilled in him

Personal assistant and physio Cullen spent seven years alongside Hamilton in the paddock, a crucial part of his inner-circle and a trusted confidante.

But she left her role, and has been replaced by new people, although the professionalism she taught Hamilton has not been forgotten.

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"My recovery is better,” the Mercedes driver, now 38, said. 

“I'm more focused on recovery than I ever was before.

"When I was 22, I wasn't focused on recovery. I didn't even know anything about recovery. 

“I was just going home, probably having a pizza, not knowing what I needed to do the next day.

"For recovery, I didn't have any specialists around me to help me navigate that.

"I had a physio, but we didn't do a huge amount. We did some training together, we did some swimming together.

“But otherwise I didn't have all the details of how you want to eat, how to replenish the liquid you lose, stretching, all those different things.

"I wasn't doing that back then. But I don't know if those drivers back in the day were that fit, so they probably fell off more than us because we train a lot more than they did back then."

Hamilton is now the second-oldest driver on the F1 grid, behind 41-year-old Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton’s F1 career is likely to stretch into his 40s as he plots a new contract to stay with Mercedes, although it remains unsigned.

He will start the F1 Miami Grand Prix from 13th after yet another nightmare session in the troublesome W14.