McLaren gives Hamilton break to avoid ’burnout’

Lewis Hamilton has won his bid for a breather this week after complaining at Silverstone about his busy off-track schedule.

At the end of an arduous media and sponsor regime ahead of his home grand prix, the Briton had warned that McLaren "are going to be shocked" when they hear his demands for a new contract beyond 2012.

"I will be doing a lot less work. There is definitely a danger of burn-out," said the 2008 world champion.

Hamilton then revealed on Monday that he refused to do two additional days of appearances early this week.

"I was supposed to be working today and tomorrow but I said ’no way’ because I’ve been in England for the last week or so and it has been quite busy here. It’s great to get home and put my feet up and watch the telly," he said.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh admits Hamilton is feeling overworked.

"I think Lewis has done too much coming into this grand prix," he said.

"We’ve managed to organise a bit of a break for Lewis before Germany, which I know he wants," added Whitmarsh, who said F1 drivers also get "a big break" during the factory shutdown in August.

It appears one of Hamilton’s cancelled appearances was a scheduled trip on Wednesday to India, with Calcutta’s Telegraph reporting that the Briton’s "visit is off".

"I was supposed to be flying to India for a day on Wednesday, in and out within a day. Fortunately, for some reason, it got cancelled," said Hamilton. "So that’s good."