![]() ![]() Hamilton began karting in 1993 and quickly began winning races and cadet class championships. ![]() In February 2001, he began studies at Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS), a private sixth-form college in Cambridge. Hamilton, an Arsenal fan, said that if Formula One had not worked for him, he would have been a footballer or a cricketer, having played both for his school teams. ![]() In addition to racing, he played association football for his school team with eventual England international, Ashley Young. He was also excluded from school for a period when he was mistakenly identified as having attacked a fellow student who was treated in hospital for his injuries. Hamilton has said that at the age of five he took up karate to defend himself as a result of bullying at school. Hamilton was educated at The John Henry Newman School, a voluntary aided Catholic secondary school in Stevenage. He continued to be Hamilton's manager until early 2010. Hamilton's father later set up his own IT company. To support his son, Hamilton's father took redundancy from his position as an IT manager and became a contractor, sometimes working up to four jobs at a time including employment as a double glazing salesman, dishwasher, and putting up signs for estate agents, while still attending his son's races. Hamilton's father bought him a go-kart for Christmas when he was six and promised to support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school. Being the only black child racing at his club, Hamilton was subjected to racist abuse. Hamilton finished second in the national BRCA championship the following year against adult competition. Hamilton's father bought him a radio-controlled car when he was five. Hamilton then lived with his father, stepmother Linda, and his half-brother Nicolas, who is also a professional racing driver. Hamilton's parents separated when he was two, after which he lived with his mother and older half-sisters, Samantha and Nicola, until he was twelve. His father, Anthony Hamilton, is black and is of Grenadian descent, while his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, is White British, and from Birmingham, making him mixed-race Hamilton has identified as black. Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Hamilton was listed in the 2020 issue of Time as one of the 100 most influential people globally ( Time 100), and was knighted ( Knight Bachelor) in the 2021 New Year Honours.Įarly life and education Hamilton celebrating with his father and then-manager Anthony Hamilton after the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix He has also become a prominent advocate in support of activism to combat racism and push for increased diversity in motorsport. Hamilton has been credited with furthering Formula One's global following by appealing to a broader audience outside the sport, in part due to his high-profile lifestyle, environmental and social activism, and exploits in music and fashion. His third and fourth consecutive titles followed in 20 to equal Schumacher's record of seven drivers' titles. Following teammate Rosberg's retirement in 2016, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel became Hamilton's closest rival in two championship battles, in which he twice overturned mid-season point deficits to claim consecutive titles again in 20. Consecutive titles came in 20 during the intense Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry. After six years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.Ĭhanges to the regulations for 2014 mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines saw the start of a highly successful period for Hamilton, during which he won six further drivers' titles. In 2008, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion-making a crucial overtake on the last lap of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, the last race of the season-to become the then-youngest ever Formula One World Champion. In his inaugural season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. This led to a Formula One drive with McLaren- Mercedes from 2007 to 2012, making him the first black driver to race in the series. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), and holds the most number of wins (103), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (197), among other records.īorn and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Hamilton joined the McLaren Young Driver Programme in 1998. Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver competing in Formula One, driving for Mercedes. ![]()
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