May 7 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has hit back at his detractors after falling nine points behind in the drivers' championship.

Following his Melbourne win in March, the 23-year-old Briton had two bad races in Malaysia and Bahrain before qualifying fifth and racing to third at Barcelona two weeks ago.

But Hamilton, despite being hailed as the next Senna or Schumacher in his impressive rookie season last year, insists that the performance slump does not mean he is a one-hit wonder.

"A few people have questioned my commitment, my ability to drive," he is quoted as saying by The Sun.

"I'm not superman but I believe I have the ability to win a world championship," Hamilton added.

The Englishman confessed to being responsible for his disastrous Bahrain outing, where he got a terrible start and then twice ran into Fernando Alonso's Renault en route to thirteenth place.

"Everybody makes mistakes. I'm sure Nelson Mandela at 90-odd still makes mistakes. That's life.

"I had one race where I made a mistake and all of a sudden people start making assumptions.

"I don't think you can judge me on one bad race," he insisted.

Despite hitting back at the snipers, however, Hamilton insists that criticism doesn't particularly bother him.

"What does concern me is doing the job to the best of my abilities.

"I didn't do that in Bahrain and that annoyed me. Once we get everything right our car is as quick as any," he said.