30 Interesting Facts About Lewis Hamilton - The British Formula One Racing Driver

Lewis Hamilton, a three-time Formula One World Champion, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, is a British Formula One racing driver from England. Here are 30 facts to know about the racer:

1. He is regarded by his professional friends as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time. He has three world titles to his name.
2. He was born Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton on January 07, 1985 to Carmen and Anthony Hamilton. His is of mixed race. His mother is white British and his father black British of Grenada immigrants. After his parents separated, he lived with his mother until the age of twelve, when he moved with father and step mother ‘Linda.’
3. He was destined to be race car driver when he came second in the national remote controlled car race, ‘BRCA’ competition in 1991. He was winning club championships against adults.
4. Hamilton took to kart racing and won his first cadet class karting championship aged ten years. He won the British karting championship and STP karting championship in 1995.
5. In 2007 he sold his kart for £42,100 and contributed the proceeds to ‘Tommy’s, the baby charity.
6. He was good in cricket and football apart from racing as a youngster. He even represented his school, The John Henry Newman School in football along with Ashley Young, the England International footballer.
7. Hamilton’s wish came true when he was signed up ‘McLaren Drivers Development Support Programme in 1998. He was the youngest driver at 13 years to be contracted by an F1 team.
8. Hamilton met success in the Formula A and Formula Super A series and became European Champion in 2000 winning all the four rounds. He was the world number one and was made a ‘Rising Star’ member by the British Racing Drivers Club in 2000.
9. Hamilton made his car racing debut in the 2001 British Formula Renault Winter Series. He won his first championship in 2003 by winning the Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship with two rounds to spare.
10. In 2004, Hamilton won the Bahrain Superprix Formula 3 race and was close to being signed up by Williams for Formula One that season. The Williams engine supplier BMW refused to sponsor his career.
    
11. In 2005, he was ranked 24 among top 50 drivers by British Magazine, Autosport. Driving for ASM Formula 3, Hamilton dominated the Formula 3 Euro Series winning 15 of the 20 rounds that year.
12. He won the GP2 series championship in 2006 representing ‘ART Grand Prix’ in his very first attempt.
13. On November 24, McLaren confirmed Hamilton as its second driver for the Formula One 2007 season partnering the defending champion Fernando Alonso. He finished third in his very first F1 race at Australian Grand Prix.
14. Hamilton broke the record of Bruce McLaren’s of being the youngest driver to lead the drivers’ championship, when he finished second in Bahrain and Barcelona Grand Prix.
15. In only his sixth race of his F1 career, Hamilton won his first Formula One race at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. He also took his first pole position in the same race.
16. Hamilton is the only driver to be assisted by the crane when he slid off into gravel trap during heavy rainstorm at the European Grand Prix in 2007. FIA subsequently banned the use of mechanical assistance during the race.
17. Hamilton finished runner-up to Kimi Raikkonen for the driver championship in the 2007 Formula-1 season. He became the youngest World Driver’s Championship at 22 years 288 days.
18. In January 2008 Hamilton signed a multimillion pound deal with McLaren Mercedes for five years. He became the highest paid British sportsman.
19. In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton passed Timo Glock of Toyota in the final corner of the race to finish fifth and took the 2008 Formula One World Championship by a single point from Felipe Massa. He is the first black champion driver among many first to his name.
    
20. On the occasion of 2009 New Year Honours, Hamilton was awarded an MBE by the Queen. In the same year Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Hamilton in his race suit.
21. After the 2009 Australian Grand Prix disqualification, he contemplated quitting Formula One. He was disqualified for providing misleading evidence during the steward’s hearing. He later apologised for his conduct.
22. On September 28, 2012, Hamilton signed a three year contract with Mercedes-Benz for the 2013 season partnering Nico Rosberg. He ended the season finishing fourth in drivers championship.
23. Hamilton won his second World Driver’s Championship on November 23, 2014 by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He beat his teammate Nico Rosberg by 67 points. He was awarded the ‘BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.’
24. In 2014, He changed his helmet colour since his karting days from Yellow to White with red stripes. His father had painted his helmet yellow to identify him during the karting days.
25. Hamilton secured 2015 Formula One World Championship, with 381 points. He won his third World Driver’s Championship with three races to spare.
26. He is the only driver in the history to have won at least one race in each race he has competed till date.
27. During the final race of 2016 season at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he was reprimanded by the team management for having placed his own interest before that of the team. He ignored race engineer and slowed down for the other drivers to catch-up and challenge Rosberg. He lost the championship by five points to Rosberg.
28. In 2007 he was criticised when he announced his intention of moving to Switzerland, to get away from media scrutiny. He later admitted during a television show that UK taxation in addition to more privacy were the reason for his decision. He later moved from Switzerland to Monaco in 2012.
29. The world champion was twice reprimanded for over speeding once on December 18, 2007 in France and again in Australia before 2010 Australian Grand Prix.
30. Hamilton’s 53 Grand Prix victories is the second highest of all time behind Michael Schumacher. His fortune is estimated to be around £88m.