Lewis Hamilton claimed today he has become disillusioned with Formula One and compared the political storms this season to wrongful imprisonment.

The 24-year-old's defence of the world title got off to a nightmare start this year with Liargate when he was accused of misleading stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.

That controversy followed last season's Spygate when his McLaren team were fined a record £65million for stealing information from Ferrari.

Hamilton is finding it difficult to accept these clashes with officialdom and his comments come on the day that F1 is at the centre of more political strife. Teams are meeting FIA president Max Mosley for showdown talks having threatened to quit the sport unless he drops plans for a budget cap.

"I just feel knocked out by it all," said Hamilton. "It's got to be a similar feeling to anyone who goes to jail but feels they shouldn't be behind bars.

"That is the feeling I have had, although I know what happened in Australia was wrong.

"I want to be a driver - I am not in the sport to be a politician. I used to enjoy Formula One and part of that has been taken away from me.

"I never imagined it would be so much politics when I came into Formula One. It definitely was a shock. There has been too much time taken up with it.

"Unfortunately, it is the way the Formula One world works for some reason. It's much nicer in the lower categories, where all the people are there just to race and the teams are there just to race."

To compound Hamilton's woes, McLaren are off the pace this term, and the world champion was heavily critical of his car during the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona last weekend.

With only nine points this season he is already a mammoth 31 behind championship leader, Brawn GP's Jenson Button. Despite all the problems Hamilton told the Times: "It hasn't affected my driving. I won't allow anything to affect my driving. But it affects your life, it affects the way you are."

While Hamilton spoke out about his personal struggles, Renault boss Flavio Briatore talked of his fears for the future of Formula One, saying that a solution to the budget row must be found "at all costs".

The sport stands at a crossroads, with Renault, Ferrari, Toyota, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso all threatening to withdraw at the end of this season unless fundamental revisions are made to the new regulations.

Central to the argument is the £40m budget cap to be imposed for next year that will create a two-tier F1 as those that adhere to the limit will be given greater technical freedom.

Equally as crucial is Mosley's governance of the sport, described by Briatore this week as "unilateral", as the 68-year-old has acted without prior consultation with the teams.

Briatore maintains no team ideally wants to leave F1, that it is a last resort, but insists motor sport's world governing body and Mosley have to be more flexible rather than dictatorial. The matter will come to a head at today's crunch meeting at a Heathrow hotel.

"The teams are F1 and the international federation should simply be the referee," said Briatore.

"The rules should be written by us. They can't be imposed by Max without him speaking to anyone. That's an unacceptable way to work.

"The FIA throws at us a new thing every week; we've gone from medals to diffusers with embarrassing thoughtlessness and we can't go on like this."