Hamilton makes tax move admission

Hamilton's debut in Formula One racing has caused quite a stir

Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is moving to Switzerland partly to avoid the UK taxman.

The 22-year-old McLaren driver, from Stevenage in Herts, previously cited privacy as his reason for leaving.

But he admitted on television chat show Parkinson that tax was an issue as well as the photographers pursuing him.

He was asked by Michael Parkinson: "I imagine you have been advised because of tax also?" Hamilton replied: "Also, that definitely adds to it."

Parkinson said: "I just thought you were wrongly advised in a sense when you said you were going to avoid the press.

"If you want to live in Switzerland then that's your problem, in my view. I wouldn't live there for £50m a week."

Ambushed by people

Hamilton, who recently published his autobiography, maintained that he also wanted to escape media attention.

"I am just a normal person and it's quite an unreal experience. I have come from nowhere and been leapfrogged into being this superstar, and it's a really, really weird experience," he said.

"It was just the other night I went to my book signing with my dad and we drove home, got out of the car and got ambushed almost by some people that followed us all the way home.

"You sort of worry for a second, what do they want, and that's becoming more and more usual.

"But I really want to live a normal life if I can, away from things and away from the race track."