A maiden world title is beckoning, the Formula One season has only three races left and Lewis Hamilton is going back to first principles. No partying or celebrity photo opportunities, the 23-year-old who carries the hopes of a nation on his shoulders is going home to get his clothes washed and to do a bit of radio-controlled car racing with his younger half-brother, Nicholas.

Hamilton, who capitalised on Felipe Massa's miserable Singapore Grand Prix by finishing third, has been racing model cars since he was 4, when he ran them round the balcony of his parents' council flat. A great way to relax has not lost its appeal.

“Same as always,” he said when asked about his schedule leading up to the Japanese Grand Prix in Fuji in two weeks' time. “I'm going back to Geneva and I'll do a couple of days' training there, then I've got an event somewhere and I'll go to McLaren for a day. My brother and I will then have a bit of fun with some remote-control cars at the weekend, then I leave for Japan on Monday. I haven't got too much stuff packed into the weekend.”

Hamilton, who leads Massa by seven points, is never satisfied unless he wins and it went against the competitive grain in him to settle for points on Sunday. But he and McLaren Mercedes are forcing themselves to do just that as they attempt to make Hamilton the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996.

“It wasn't brilliant,” Hamilton said of his performance in Formula One's first night race. “Winning would have been good, but I felt I was a bit unlucky. I was stuck behind David Coulthard and hoped my fellow Brit might help me out, but he was in the points and wanted a good result.

“Regardless, we scored good points and we're back to where we were after Spa. We're moving on and have to approach the final three races in the same way. We kept our cool as a team. There wasn't one point on the track where I nearly lost it, even when I was behind David. I just kept it on the track and we did a really solid job.”

While Hamilton kept his car out of trouble, Massa had a torrid time in the Ferrari as his pole position was thrown away at his first pitstop when an error by his crew led him to leave with the fuel hose attached to his car.

“I saw he had trouble and there was so much going on, plus I was looking out for the pit exit lights this time,” Hamilton said. “I didn't even see him to my left. I was focusing on my lights and got out. I knew he'd had a problem, but I thought: ‘He'll probably be really lucky and still somehow get loads of points'. I didn't for a second think, ‘This is great.' I just focused on bringing it home and it was obviously good to cross the line knowing neither Ferrari had scored any points. It's positive for us and now we're leading both championships.”