I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that my new hairstyle attracted a lot of attention when I arrived at Monza for the start of the Italian Grand Prix weekend on Thursday.
I had it dyed blond a few days ago in Los Angeles. It was just something I fancied doing on the spur of the moment.
I am in a very experimental period of my life. I like taking risks, I like trying new things, whether it be style or restaurants or whatever.
I was at the hairdresser and I just thought: "I'm going to try it, let's do it." Zero cares.
It's short term. I'll keep it for this weekend and then I'll probably go back next week, and who knows, maybe I'll do something different.
Finding the right balance in life
I went from LA, where I attended the MTV video awards, to New York and then back to Europe for this weekend's race in Italy.
From time to time, I notice that I sometimes get a bit of criticism for going back to America so often, and attending some of the events I go to.
Formula 1 is the sort of place where people tend to have an opinion about everything and usually they tend to believe their own opinion is the right one, even if it relates to someone else.
I certainly lead a different life from many people. I have a great life that I am thankful for and I like travelling.
If I don't travel, if I stay at home for a week, I would go out of my mind. That is just the way I am. I love to be on the move and I am fortunate that I have friends all over the world.
There is a personal side of things to the time I spend in the States, and also a business angle. I spend time over there partly because I have projects that I am working on that require me to be at meetings and so on.
Always, though, I am trying to balance to the best of my abilities my training, health, and mental and physical condition.
Until this year, I cared what people thought and tried to live to people's own expectations rather than my own.
But I turned 30 over the winter and I have really got to a point in my life where I am comfortable in myself and I would never make any decision if I felt it was detrimental to my performance in the car, which is the number one priority.
Sometimes I would see some of the comments people made about me and wonder whether they realised what I had achieved.
It's like me commenting on how someone else dresses. It doesn't matter what I think; what's important is how you feel inside.
If changing my attitude on this has helped me drive better, it's subconscious; it's not something I'm aware of. But I am certainly really enjoying this year and I have really found a good balance between all aspects of my life.
I feel like I have been switching between extremes before.
Initially, it was too far towards the quiet side - girlfriend wants to go out, and I'd say: "No, I have to be up early to train."
Then, I might occasionally have gone too far the other way, and now I have found the middle way that works for me.
