Lewis Hamilton says maintaining his relationship with Nicole Scherzinger "hasn’t been easy".
The two-time Formula 1 world champion has admitted he sometimes struggles with the long-distance nature of his relationship with his pop star girlfriend, who he first started dating in 2007.
Speaking about their romance, the 29-year-old racing driver said: "It’s not been easy – she lives in LA, I live in Monaco and I’m travelling a lot for work.
"Her job is shifting all the time, whether it’s ‘X Factor’ or ‘Dancing With The Stars’ or ‘Cats’ or music. Juggling your schedule to meet with the other is very hard, and it’s a long year with F1.
"At one point I flew to Asia for five weeks and couldn’t see her. It’s been tough."
However, Lewis explained that having the 36-year-old beauty by his side as he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday (23.11.14) to clinch the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship made the weekend extra "special".
He told The Sun newspaper: "So obviously this makes it hard for us. But having Nicole there at the weekend was special."
When asked if he liked being dubbed the ‘Hamzingers’, Lewis said: "We’re not Posh and Becks or Brangelina. We’re unique.
"Nicole loves twisting words around – ‘schamazing’ or ‘schermazeballs’ – she’s always doing it. It’s ridiculous. She’s going overboard now."
Lewis and Nicole initially started dating in 2007 but split in January 2010 to focus on their careers. But they later reunited and split a number of times between 2011 and 2013 before eventually getting back together.
Lewis Hamilton: Being apart from Nicole is tough
