Draft: a fan’s take. Check the details and make it your own before publishing.
Lewis Hamilton has more wins and more pole positions than anyone in the history of the sport, and seven world titles, level with Michael Schumacher. But the numbers don’t tell you how unusual his path was.
Stevenage
He grew up in Stevenage, north of London, and started karting as a kid with his dad, Anthony, working several jobs to keep it going. As a young boy he met McLaren boss Ron Dennis and told him he wanted to race for McLaren one day. A few years later, McLaren signed him to their young driver programme.
A rookie year like no other
He made his debut with McLaren in 2007, as teammate to the reigning champion, Fernando Alonso. He finished on the podium in each of his first nine races and went into the final race leading the championship. He lost the title to Kimi Räikkönen by a single point.
The last corner
In 2008 it came down to the last race again, in Brazil, in the rain. Felipe Massa won the race and for a few seconds was champion. Then Lewis passed Timo Glock in the last corners of the last lap to take fifth place and the title by one point. He was the youngest champion at the time.
The move to Mercedes
When he left McLaren for Mercedes for 2013, a lot of people called it a mistake. Then the hybrid engine rules arrived in 2014, Mercedes built the best car by far, and he won the title in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The one that got away was 2016, when teammate Nico Rosberg beat him by five points.
In 2020 he passed Schumacher’s record of 91 wins, and matched his seven titles with a wet win in Turkey.
More than racing
He has been the only Black driver on the F1 grid for his whole career, and he’s used that platform: pushing the sport on diversity, setting up the Hamilton Commission and Mission 44, and speaking up when it would have been easier not to. He was knighted at the end of 2021.
2021 and after
The eighth title slipped away on the last lap in Abu Dhabi in 2021 (I’ve written about that whole season). The cars that followed didn’t suit Mercedes, and he went more than two years without a win, before winning at Silverstone and at Spa in 2024.
Ferrari
For 2025 he made the move he’d hinted at for years and joined Ferrari. Seeing him in red still feels a little unreal.
Whatever happens from here, his place in the sport’s history is secure.