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Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver competing in Formula One, driving for Mercedes. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), and holds the records for most wins (103), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (198), among others.
Born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Hamilton joined the McLaren Young Driver Programme in 1998. This led to a Formula One drive with McLaren from 2007 to 2012, making him the first black driver to race in the series. In his debut season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion—making a crucial overtake on the last lap of the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest ever Formula One World Champion. After six years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.
Changes 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. Consecutive titles came in 2014 and 2015 during an intense rivalry with teammate Nico Rosberg. Following 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 2017 and 2018. His third and fourth consecutive titles followed in 2019 and 2020 to equal Schumacher's record of seven drivers' titles. Hamilton surpassed 100 race wins and pole positions in 2021. He will join Ferrari for the 2025 season.
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. He has also become a prominent advocate in support of activism to combat racism and push for increased diversity in motorsport. Hamilton was listed in the 2020 issue of Time as one of the 100 most influential people globally, and was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours.
Early life and education[edit]
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.[2] His father, Anthony Hamilton, is of Grenadian descent, while his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, is British, from Birmingham,[7] making him mixed-race;[8][9] 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.[10] Hamilton then lived with his father, stepmother Linda, and his half-brother Nicolas, who is also a professional racing driver.[11][12] Hamilton was raised a Catholic.[13]
Hamilton's father bought him a radio-controlled car when he was five.[14] Hamilton finished second in the national BRCA championship the following year against adult competition.[15] Being the only black child racing at his club, Hamilton was subjected to racist abuse.[14][16] 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.[17] 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,[18] while still attending his son's races.[19] Hamilton's father later set up his own IT company.[20] He continued to be Hamilton's manager until early 2010.[21][22]
Hamilton was educated at The John Henry Newman School, a voluntary aided Catholic secondary school in Stevenage.[23] Hamilton has said that at the age of five he took up karate to defend himself as a result of bullying at school.[24] 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.[25] In addition to racing, he played association football for his school team with eventual England international, Ashley Young.[20] 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.[26] In February 2001, he began studies at Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS), a private sixth-form college in Cambridge.[27]
Junior racing career[edit]
Karting[edit]
Hamilton began karting in 1993 and quickly began winning races and cadet class championships.[28][29] Two years later, he became the youngest driver to win the British cadet karting championship at the age of ten. That year, Hamilton approached McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards for an autograph and said: "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars."[18] Dennis wrote in Hamilton's autograph book: "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then."[30]
When Hamilton was 12, Ladbrokes took a bet, at 40/1 odds, that Hamilton would win a Formula One race before the age of 23; another predicted, at 150/1 odds, that he would win the World Drivers' Championship before he was 25.[31] In 1998, Dennis called Hamilton following his second Super One series and British championship wins,[15] to offer Hamilton a role in the McLaren driver development programme.[8] The contract included an option of a future Formula One seat, which would make Hamilton the youngest driver to secure a contract that later resulted in a Formula One drive.[28]
He's a quality driver, very strong and only 16. If he keeps this up I'm sure he will reach F1. It's something special to see a kid of his age out on the circuit. He's clearly got the right racing mentality.
—Michael Schumacher, speaking about Hamilton in 2001[32]
Hamilton continued his progress in the Intercontinental A (1999), Formula A (2000) and Formula Super A (2001) ranks, and became European Champion in 2000 with maximum points. In Formula A and Formula Super A, racing for TeamMBM.com, his teammate was Nico Rosberg, who would later drive for the Williams and Mercedes teams in Formula One; they would later team up again for Mercedes from 2013 to 2016. Following his karting successes, the British Racing Drivers' Club made him a "Rising Star" Member in 2000.[33] In 2001, Michael Schumacher made a one-off return to karts and competed against Hamilton along with other future Formula One drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton ended the final in seventh, four places behind Schumacher. Although the two saw little of each other on the track, Schumacher praised the young Briton.[34]
Formula Renault and Formula Three[edit]
Hamilton began his car racing career in the 2001 British Formula Renault Winter Series, finishing fifth in the standings.[15] This led to a full 2002 Formula Renault UK campaign with Manor Motorsport in which he finished fifth overall.[35] He remained with Manor for another year, winning the championship ahead of Alex Lloyd.[36] Having clinched the championship, Hamilton missed the last two races of the season to make his debut in the season finale of the British Formula 3 Championship.[37] In his first race he was forced out with a puncture,[38] and in the second he crashed out and was taken to hospital after a collision with teammate Tor Graves.[39]
Asked in 2002 about the prospect of becoming one of the youngest ever Formula One drivers, Hamilton replied that his goal was "not to be the youngest in Formula One" but rather "to be experienced and then show what I can do in Formula One".[40] He made his debut with Manor in the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series, ending the year fifth in the championship.[41] He also won the Bahrain F3 Superprix,[42] and twice raced in the Macau F3 Grand Prix.[43][44] Williams had come close to signing Hamilton but did not because BMW, their engine supplier at the time, would not fund him.[45] Hamilton eventually re-signed with McLaren. According to then McLaren executive and future CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who was responsible for guiding Hamilton through the team's young driver programme, he and Anthony Hamilton had a "huge row" at the end of the season, with his father pushing for him to move up to GP2 for 2005, while Whitmarsh felt that he should remain in Formula 3 for a second season, culminating in Whitmarsh tearing up Hamilton's contract; however, Hamilton called Whitmarsh six weeks later and re-signed with the team.[18]
Hamilton first tested for McLaren in late 2004 at Silverstone.[46] Hamilton moved to the reigning Euro Series champions ASM for the 2005 season and dominated the championship, winning 15 of the 20 rounds.[15] He also won the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort.[47] After the season British magazine Autosport featured him in their "Top 50 Drivers of 2005" issue, ranking Hamilton 24th.[15]
GP2[edit]
Hamilton moved to ASM's sister GP2 team, ART Grand Prix, for the 2006 season.[48] Hamilton won the GP2 championship at his first attempt, beating Nelson Piquet Jr. and Alexandre Prémat.[49] He secured a dominant win at the Nürburgring, despite a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.[50] At his home race at Silverstone, Hamilton overtook two rivals at Becketts, a series of high-speed bends where overtaking is rare.[51] In Istanbul he recovered from a spin that left him in eighteenth place to take second.[52] Hamilton won the title in unusual circumstances, inheriting the final point he needed after Giorgio Pantano was stripped of fastest lap in the Monza feature race.[53]
Hamilton's success in the GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi Räikkönen to Ferrari.[54][55] After months of speculation on whether Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa or Gary Paffett would be paired with defending champion Fernando Alonso for 2007, Hamilton was confirmed as the team's second driver.[56] He was told of McLaren's decision at the end of September, but the news was not made public for almost two months, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's retirement announcement.[57]
Formula One career[edit]
McLaren (2007–2012)[edit]
Hamilton's first season in Formula One saw him partner two-time and defending World Champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren, a team that used works Mercedes engines and was 40% owned by the German manufacturer at the time.[58] Hamilton is the first and as of 2024[update] the only black driver to race in the series.[59][60][61] After finishing on the podium in his debut,[62] Hamilton went on to set several records as he finished runner-up in the 2007 World Drivers' Championship to Kimi Räikkönen by one point,[63] including those for the most consecutive podium finishes from debut (9), the joint most wins in a debut season (4) and the most points in a debut season (109).[64] Throughout the season, Hamilton and Alonso were involved in a number of incidents which resulted in tensions between both drivers and the team, culminating in Alonso and McLaren terminating their contract by mutual consent in November. Following a successful first season at McLaren, Hamilton signed a multi-million-pound contract to stay with the team until 2012.[65]
