Hamilton overcomes fear of the deep

By Alan Baldwin

MANAMA (Reuters) - McLaren's Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton revealed on Thursday that he had conquered a fear of deep water but was still wary of being attacked by sharks.

The 23-year-old Briton looked rested and relaxed at a Bahrain Grand Prix news conference after a holiday sightseeing and working out in Thailand with Force India's German driver Adrian Sutil.

"We did a lot of running, in the heat obviously," he said. "It's like doing double the work anywhere else. A lot of kayaking, a lot of swimming. I'm not particularly one who likes being far out in the deep sea but I got over it.

"I overcame one of my fears, which was good."

"I guess it's the unknown, not really knowing what's below you," he continued.

"I do like scuba diving, so being under the water is a completely different thing from floating on the top. You see all those Discovery channels when the shark jumps up, eats whatever's floating on the top.

"I just don't fancy being in that position."

Hamilton won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and is three points clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in the championship after two races.