Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he thought about leaving the sport last year after he was found to have lied at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Englishman was found guilty of misleading race stewards in Melbourne which led to his McLaren team being handed a three-race suspended ban.
Hamilton admits it was an embarrassing episode in his short career, telling the Sunday Telegraph: "There was a lot to take on board after what had gone on.
"I care about how people perceive me. It was a feeling of 'shoot, maybe I shouldn't be in the sport' rather than not in my team. This is my dream team and I am fortunate to have been here from the beginning.
"I never had a desire to drive for anyone else. So it was not a desire to leave the team, just to stop racing. For a split second it was 'this is too much to take. How do I recover from this?'
"I never for a second didn't want to do it, I love racing. I just didn't know how to. Sometimes it is hard to face the music; hard to face people when you know that as soon as you turn your back they are talking about you.
"And for a long period of time, for months, I would walk into a room and I am sure there are some people who walked into the room and they feel cool but for me I just didn't feel positive, it was negative energy and I don't like that.
"But slowly I began to realise that it was not all negative energy and I had a lot of support and respect from people. It made me stronger. It was a real strong experience.
"I can't say what will happen in the future but I have always said I love the sport, I love winning and winning in the right way. Integrity is very important to me."