What you may not know about Lewis Hamilton…

By Joe Murphy

There is a huge back story to the seven-time Champion of the World, one that many Formula 1 fans may not know about. In this piece, we look at the story behind the history setting and record breaking, driver.

Lewis Hamilton was born on the 7th January 1985 in Stevenage, England. At only eight years old, Lewis sat in a kart for the first time and has been racing ever since. Mercedes-Benz soon recognised the British youngster’s talent, becoming his first official sponsor at the very start of his career.

Not only did Hamilton show incredible pace on the track, he also climbed the career ladder at an impressive rate. After dominating every category of karting, he won the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series. The constructor selected him for their Young Driver Programme in 1997. Four years later, he moved up into British Formula Renault, winning the title only two solitary years later.

When Hamilton did go back to school in Stevenage, he attended The John Henry Newman School. One of his classmates just happened to be Aston Villa footballer Ashley Young, formerly of Manchester United and England. So, he was in a class full of future sporting talent.

This winning streak continued into the Formula 3 Euro Series. He became junior champion in only his second year and subsequently progressed to the GP2 Series with ART Grand Prix.

The rookie absolutely dominated the Championship, claiming five victories on his way to the title. This success immediately led to his promotion to Formula 1 aged only 22, where he races to this day aged 37.

Lewis made his Grand Prix debut with McLaren on 18 March 2007 as team-mate to reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso. Despite being significantly younger, he remained in contention for the title right up until the season finale in Brazil, before falling short to Kimi Raikkonen by a single point. In his rookie season, he managed to achieve the most race wins and most pole positions, whilst also setting a record for points scored in a debut season.

It was a year later, in 2008, where a first Formula One World Championship came into his possession. At the time of his victory, Lewis was only 23 years, nine months and 26 days old, making him the youngest ever Formula One World Champion. It was undoubtedly one of the most memorable and famous title deciders in F1 history, with Lewis securing the Championship on the last lap of the final race in Brazil after a late overtake of Timo Glock gave his fifth position, which was enough to edge rival Felipe Massa.

Four years and no further World Championships later, Lewis sought a new challenge. He joined the Mercedes team for the 2013 season and secured his first podium in a Mercedes Formula One car in only his second race with the team, at the Malaysian Grand Prix. His first Mercedes victory followed midway through the season in Budapest, a track which has proven to be one of the Brits preferred, and most successful, venues.

The following year, Lewis claimed a second World Drivers’ Championship crown, after taking 11 victories and 16 podiums over the course of the season. In 2015, Lewis put in a truly dominant display, which involved 10 wins and 17 podiums in total. This was enough to win his third Drivers’ crown, drawing him level with the legendary Jackie Stewart and his childhood hero, Ayrton Senna.

Hamilton, still only 31 years old at this point, achieved a similar level of success in the 2016 season, scoring the most race wins (10) and most pole positions (12) of any driver. However, the Brit ultimately lost a season-long duel with departing team mate, Nico Rosberg, who won his only World Championship in the final race, that season.

For 2017, Lewis’ closest challenge came from the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Despite trailing for the first half of the campaign, a terrific run of results meant that Lewis secured his fourth World Title in Mexico with two rounds to spare. Yet again, he ended the season having recorded the most race wins and pole positions of any driver (10 and 11 respectively).

The following season proved to be an even closer battle with the Tifosi. The Brit and German traded places at the top of the 2018 standings for most of the year. Ultimately, as in the previous season, Lewis won the war when it came to reliability and sheer race consistency, and secured his fifth Drivers’ Championship in Mexico yet again, ending the year with a further 11 wins and 17 podium finishes.

Lewis made it three in a row with a sixth F1 title in 2019, this time at the United States Grand Prix with two rounds to spare. He equalled the most wins (11) and podiums (17) he’d ever scored in a single season, while also scoring the most points with an impressive 413.

In 2020, Lewis had already raced 250 Grand Prix in his career. However, this didn’t slow the man from Stevenage down. Lewis continued to break numerous records in a superb season blighted by Covid and the challenges that surrounded the pandemic. It was in this year when Lewis surpassed Michael Schumacher’s record of F1 race wins and at the Turkish Grand Prix a few races later, he matched the German’s record of world titles with a seventh Drivers’ Championship of his own.

In 2021, back in front of full capacity crowds for the most part, Lewis ultimately came up short of a record breaking eighth World Title. In a season that saw Mercedes at their most vulnerable in seven years, the eventual constructors champions couldn’t help Lewis overcome the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman passed Hamilton on the final lap, albeit in definite controversial circumstances.

Regarding his private life, he is very much just that. Aside from a quite public relationship with a Pussycat Doll well over 12 years ago, he doesn’t discuss his personal life with many journalists. He has it on record as preferring to stick to talking about the cars and the tracks, and dismisses questions he deems irrelevant. In a world with media that is increasingly intrusive, this stance has to be respected. Although it doesn’t stop the rumour mill from generating false stories.

With his position still not 100% as we approach the start of the 2022 season, you can’t help but think that Sir Lewis Hamilton is already one of the greatest of all time, whether or not he decides to return to the track. I personally feel he has more fuel in the tank and would not want to see his incredibly career end this way. Another couple of attempts at the eighth World Championship would surely be best for everyone, including the fans. With some records still to break, and others to extend, I hope we see car #44 on the grid again, when the lights go out in a couple of months time.