Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – Bio, F1 Record, Stats and News

Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Story – The Boy That Loved Racing More Than Anything

Becoming an F1 driver is an enormous challenge on its own, but becoming the first-ever Black driver to reach the heights of the pinnacle of motorsport seemed impossible. Not until Lewis Hamilton came into this game.

Born on January 7, 1985, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in England to a black father of Grenadian descent, Anthony Hamilton, and a White British mother, Carmen Larbalestier, Hamilton spent his early years with his mom and two sisters. He first fell in love with cars and racing when his father brought him an RC car, with which he won the BRCA championship the same year.

His dad bought him a go-kart as a Christmas present and vowed to support his racing career as long as Lewis did well in school. Seeing how well his son progressed, Anthony sometimes worked up to four jobs to support Lewis’ career.

He won the British Kart Racing Championship at the age of 10 and approached McLaren F1 Team Boss Ron Dennis at the ceremony. Lewis introduced himself and said that one day he wants to race his cars.

Widely regarded as a child prodigy, British bookmakers predicted that he’ll get into F1 and win a race before the age of 2023. Coincidentally, Lewis won his first World Championship aged 23.

Hamilton Love & Family Life

Knighthood, Becoming the Highest-Paid F1 Driver & Member of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World

Lewis Hamilton was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people globally by Time in 2020 and was knighted by the Prince of Wales in 2021. His net worth is estimated at around $285 million, while his salary is $35 million. He has a contract with Mercedes until the end of 2023.

Despite his earnings from F1, he also has a substantial income via some lucrative endorsements. He collaborates with several high-profile brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Mercedez-Benz, Puma, and he has also been linked with a potential bid for the Manchester United Football Club – although that’s an unlikely scenario.

Some of the partner brands he works with also include Bose, Sony, IWC, Petronas, Monster Energy, Grand Turismo Sport, and MV Augusta Motorcycles.

• Full name: Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton
• DOB: 7th January 1985
• Age: 38
• Place of Birth: Stevenage, UK
• Nationality: British
• Team: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
• Race number: #44

From Go-Kart Grassroots to F1 Dominance: Who Was Lewis Hamilton Before F1?

Hamilton first started racing when he received an RC car for Christmas, and won the BRCA championship at the age of 6. His dad recognized his love for racing, and bought him a go-kart under the promise that he’ll do well in school.

He first started competing in karting championships at the age of 8, and just two years later, he won the British Karting Championship and the STP Karting Championship. The following year, he won the Champions of the Future series and other karting competitions, and repeated the same success in 1996.

Throughout 1998 he raced in the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future competition, where he finished second, and raced in the Italian Open Championship too. In 1999, he won the Italian ‘Industrials’ Championship, and in 2000, he won the Formula A European Championship. By 2022, it was time for his first race car experience.

The McLaren team asked Manor Motosport to let Lewis do a test in their Renault Formula, which was the first time he drove a car. Not just a race car – any car. Unfortunately, he crashed the Renault after just three laps. However, as he progressed throughout the season, he managed to win three races in the Formula Renault championship. He raced in the same competition the next year, and easily won the title with 10 wins.

In 2004, he raced in the Formula Three Euroseries for the Manor team, and finished fifth in the end of the season. For the 2005 season, he went to the ASM team, and won 16 out of the 20 races that season. The next route to F1 was the GP2 series.

Hamilton joined the ART GP2 team for the 2006 season. His main rival throughout the season was Nelson Piquiet Jr., but Lewis managed to claim the title – which meant only one thing: It was time for Lewis Hamilton to join F1. The rest is history.

Lewis Still Has High Hopes For 2023 Despite The Huge Gap To Red Bull

The new regulations for the 2022 season brought big changes to the cars, and, unfortunately for Lewis, the Mercedes W13 wasn’t nearly as competitive as the previous cars. Despite the team’s efforts throughout the season last year and the winter break, it seems like the 2023 car isn’t much better.

Although it’s too early to say whether the Mercedes W14 is competitive, the supertimings show that both Lewis and teammate George Russel were slower by main competitors Red Bull and Ferrari. Surprisingly, the Aston Martin, led by Fernando Alonso, was also on par with the Mercedes cars for the Bahrain GP qualifications, and even quicker in race pace.

He currently stands at 10 points, finishing 5th in the opening race of the 2023 season, and has his hopes up that the team can solve the issues and bring a more competitive car. The bookies don’t share this belief though, as Hamilton is currently priced at around 14/1 (15.00) when it comes to Formula One odds.

A stable but uninspiring start for Mercedes and Hamilton in Bahrain

At the start of the season in Bahrain it became evident that the gap to RedBull didn’t close, but it grew bigger instead. Despite Ferrari’s early struggles too, Hamilton qualified in 7th place, behind teammate Russell and the surprise challengers Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin. At the start of the race, Hamilton managed to pass both Alonso and Russell. Hamilton eventually lost a place to Alonso due to Aston Martin’s superiority. After that, Hamilton had a quiet race, finishing in 5th place, taking advantage of Charles Leclerc’s retirement, but nowhere near the two RedBulls, Alonso and Sainz.

Another mediocre showing in Jeddah

With Verstappen out of qualifying with mechanical issues and Leclerc with a ten place penalty on the grid, it seemed like a good chance for Hamilton and Mercedes to challenge for a podium in Saudi Arabia. Although, Hamilton managed to qualify only 8th, promoted to 7th on the grid. After an ok start, Hamilton lost a place to Leclerc, but a safety car later in the race came out and Mercedes took full advantage of it, puting Hamilton in medium tyres against the Ferraris with hards. He emerged infront of Leclerc and passed Sainz, solidifying himself in 5th for the second race in a row, behing the RedBulls, Alonso and his teammate Russell.

Comeback podium in controversial Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes showed signs of a form resurgence in Australia, managing to put their two cars in second and third in qualifying, taking advantage of Sergio Perez’s mistake in Q1. Hamilton was behind his teammate in 3d and after the start the two Mercedes cars passed poleman Verstappen in the first lap, with Russell leading and Hamilton in second place. Although, later on Russell pitted to take advantage of a safety car, which controversially turned into a red flag, meaning that Russell droped down the order, with Hamilton inheriting the lead with fresh tyres. But Hamilton was unable to defend the massively quicker RedBull and dropped to second again. It was a comfortable drive for Hamiton in second after this, until 2 laps before the end of the race when another controversial red flag came out. After a restart chaos that saw multiple drivers eliminated, Hamilton managed to survive and brought home the first podium of the year for him and Mercedes with second place.

Decent points from a tough weekend in Baku

After almost a month of wait, F1 returned to action in Azerbaijan. Mercedes were yet to bring their upgrades and Baku wasn’t exactly the track that suited the W14. It was also a sprint weekend and Mercedes needed the points. Hamilton managed to qualify a decent 5thin the Friday qualifying session for Sunday’s main race, while teammate Russell didn’t make it to Q3. In Sprint Day in Saturday Lewis qualified 6th in the “Sprint Shootout”, the new qualifying for the sprint race. In the 17-lap race that followed, Hamilton didn’t show much pace and got overtaken by old time nemesis Fernando Alonso, but managed to bring home 2 points with 7th position. Come race day, Hamilton was starting 5th and would ideally like to challenge the Ferraris and the RedBulls. That proved difficult, though, and he once again lost out to Alonso and his quick Aston Martin. In a rather univentful race, Hamilton finished one better than in the sprint in 6th place, this time beating teammate Russell.