Lewis Hamilton makes brutal complacency accusation ahead of F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Ever since missing out on a record eighth title in 2021, however, he's struggled to seriously compete.

Max Verstappen has won the last three crowns, with the Red Bull star showing no signs of slowing down as the final two F1 races of the season loom.

Hamilton has now admitted he feels Mercedes, as well as himself, got complacent during their dominant years.

And he's confessed he sometimes struggles to stay motivated as he looks to end of the current campaign on a high - starting with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday.

He told ABC News: "Growing up, I won a lot. I always had at least one win each year.

"I think the last two years have been a great experience to really be fighting with the team.

"We were winning for such a long time and when you win for so long, we all get complacent and take things for granted.

"I think this has been a great time for us to really pull back, have our feet on the ground and start back up and dig deep.

"And I think for me, it's just always knowing that we can be better each day.

"I know I can be fitter. I know I can do more, I can be more efficient with my work, with my time.

"I have days where I'm like, I don't want to work out, this sucks.

"But you just gotta keep pushing. You gotta keep getting up."

Hamilton is, however, still committed to winning an eighth F1 crown and moving in front of Michael Schumacher.

The Briton admits it's getting tougher to achieve his goals as he enters the twilight years of his career.

But the Stevenage-born race is confident better and brighter days lie ahead.

"We're not fighting for a world championship right this second," he added.

"I think the pressure is, as you're getting older, it gets harder to train.

"It's harder to stay fit. It's managing your time. It's how you communicate with a team of people and keep them all focused.

"And, you know, I guess the pressure right now is to catch up to Red Bull, the team we're trying to fight.

"Coming back in February and getting in the car, I will know immediately whether it's a car that we can fight with or not.

"That's always a nervous experience for everybody."

When he was younger, Hamilton would often get involved with the construction of the Mercedes vehicle.

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Yet the 38-year-old is now taking a step back, though admits he's always chasing up Mercedes engineers to determine how they're getting on.

"Heavily. When I was younger, that was not necessarily the case," he continued.

"I'm on like a group chat with my engineers, we've been talking every day for the last four days, even over the weekend, about setup for this weekend.

"Even today, we're talking about the temperatures, we're talking about wing levels and ride heights and setup we'll be having.

"I'm checking with the head of aerodynamics like every week: 'What have you tried this year? These are things I've seen on other cars. Have we tried that?'

"When I go back to the factory every week, I'm having meetings with people from different heads of different departments.

"When you see people working at their desks, you see how committed people are.

"They spend so much time away from their families. They're so committed and that inspires you."