1985–present
Who Is Lewis Hamilton?
British auto racer Lewis Hamilton is one of the most successful drivers in Formula 1 history, winning a record-setting 105 Grands Prix and seven Drivers’ Championships during his career. Hamilton began racing go-karts at age 8 and became a promising young phenom, claiming titles starting at age 10 and making his F1 debut in March 2007 at age 22. After winning championships with the McLaren and Mercedes teams, he began driving for the iconic Scuderia Ferrari team in 2025. A star beyond the race track, Hamilton has launched his own clothing lines and is a co-producer of the upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton
BORN: January 7, 1985
BIRTHPLACE: Stevenage, United Kingdom
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn
Early Life and Family
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on January 7, 1985, in Stevenage, United Kingdom, to Anthony Hamilton and Carmen Larbalestier. Following their divorce in 1987, young Lewis split time with his parents—living primarily with his mother and older half-sisters Nicola and Samantha in the English countryside.
Hamilton is of multiracial descent: His mother is British, while his father is Grenadian-British. He experienced bullying and racist taunts in school over his skin color, including other children throwing bananas at him. “As a kid, I remember just staying quiet about it because I didn’t feel anyone really understood. I just kept it to myself,” Hamilton told The Guardian. In order to defend himself and channel the pain he felt, he took up both boxing and karate.
One of his primary escapes was Formula 1, which he watched with his father on weekends. His own racing career began at age 8, when Anthony gifted him a used go-kart which cost about one month of the family’s income. When Lewis wasn’t practicing on an actual track, he logged laps on the computer racing simulator Grand Prix 2.
Around age 12, Hamilton went to live with his father, stepmother Linda, and half-brother Nicolas. He received his secondary education at the Saint John Henry Newman Catholic School, where he was briefly expelled in 2001 after being wrongly accused of attacking another student. By this time, it was clear Hamilton had a bright future behind the wheel.
Racing Career: Formula 1 and More
With Anthony working multiple jobs to support his son’s passion, Hamilton began his career in karting, or driving small open-wheel cars with an exposed cockpit. At age 10, he won the British Kart Championship.
Three years later, Hamilton’s quick success prompted McLaren Formula 1 team principal Ron Dennis to fund his promising career—as long as the 13-year-old continued to excel in school. “I just went upstairs to my room and got on with my homework,” Hamilton said. “It was so unbelievable. I struggled to take it in.” The confident teenager didn’t let his benefactor down, winning several national and international championships during his six years in karting.
Hamilton soon graduated to full-size cars. In 2003, he claimed the British Formula Renault Championship, winning 10 of 15 races. He then took home titles in the Formula 3 Euro Series and Grand Prix 2 in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
Having dominated every level of competition, the logical next step for Hamilton was a promotion to F1.
F1 Champion with McLaren and Mercedes
With his father serving as his manager at racing’s highest level, Hamilton made his F1 debut for McLaren in the 2007 season-opening Australian Grand Prix and finished third, immediately showcasing his potential. He scored his pole position (or first-place starting spot) and race win five events later at the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished second overall in the season standings with four total victories.
In 2008, Hamilton won five races en route to his first F1 Drivers’ Championship over Brazil’s Felipe Massa, which made him the youngest champion in series history at age 23. He had an emotional celebration with his father following the finale at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “When someone puts so much faith and trust and effort and time into you for years and, it finally pays off, that’s a beautiful feeling,” Hamilton said.
But after finishing no better than fourth in the championship hunt over the next four seasons with McLaren and firing Anthony as his manager in 2010, Hamilton began driving with the Mercedes team in 2013. The move changed the course of Hamilton’s career, as the driver won 10 or more Grands Prix six times over the next eight seasons and garnered six more Drivers’ Championships, including four straight from 2017 through 2020.
Hamilton was a title favorite for the 2021 season and dueled for the top spot with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton and Verstappen won 18 of 22 races combined and were tied in points entering the finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Although Hamilton led for much of the event, a late-race accident involving another car allowed Verstappen to pit for new tires. F1 then made the controversial decision to move only select slower cars between the two drivers out of the way for a restart, allowing Verstappen to overtake Hamilton on the final lap and win the championship.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Hamilton received one of the biggest honors of his career that same year when then–Prince Charles granted him knighthood at Windsor Castle.
Move to Ferrari with Charles Leclerc
While it appeared a fierce rivalry with Verstappen was born, Hamilton’s Mercedes team instead began a significant drop in performance. Hamilton went winless in both 2022 and 2023—a career first—raising questions about his future in the sport.
In February 2024, Hamilton ended the uncertainty by announcing he would join the iconic Scuderia Ferrari team in 2025. “The time is right for me to take this step, and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge,” Hamilton said. “I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family.”
Hamilton had two victories during his lame duck 2024 campaign with Mercedes, becoming the first F1 driver to win beyond his 300th career start and setting the singular circuit record with his ninth triumph at the British Grand Prix.
On January 22, 2025, Hamilton officially switched colors, driving his first on-track laps for Ferrari during a test session at the Fiorano Circuit in Italy. Having replaced Carlos Sainz behind the wheel, he now serves as an experienced teammate to young series star Charles Leclerc. The F1 regular season begins with the Australian Grand Prix from March 14-16 in Melbourne.
Stats and Records
As of February 2025, Hamilton holds multiple F1 career records. His 105 Grand Prix victories are the most all-time ahead of Michael Schumacher (91) and current rival Max Verstappen (63). Hamilton also has the most career podiums with 202 and a record 104 pole positions.
Here is a complete look at Hamilton’s career by the numbers with series records starred:
- Height: 5 feet 9 inches
- F1 races started: 356
- Grand Prix wins: 105*
- Podium finishes: 202*
- Pole positions: 104*
- F1 driver championships: 7* (tied with Michael Schumacher)
- Consecutive seasons with a win: 15* (tied with Schumacher)
- Career driver points: 4,862.5*
Net Worth and Contract
Hamilton is one of the world’s highest-paid athletes across all sports. In February 2024, Sportico estimated the driver had earned $62 million during 2023, placing him 19th overall.
He has benefited from lucrative sponsorship deals with companies including Monster Energy, Sony, and Puma. Because of this, Hamilton has an overall net worth valued around $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
It has been reported that Hamilton could make $100 million or more per year during his two-season contract with Ferrari factoring in race winnings, image rights, and bonuses. As part of the deal, the team has reportedly given him permission to live inside the former home of legendary founder Enzo Ferrari in Fiorano, Italy.
Business Ventures and Advocacy
Hamilton has parlayed his on-track success into business ventures in other areas. This includes the fashion and restaurant industries as well as the NFL.
In 2018, the driver began an ongoing partnership with Tommy Hilfiger to launch the TommyXLewis collection, a racing-inspired menswear clothing line. “It’s an iconic brand, as we know, but my first meetings with Tommy were very, very memorable,” Hamilton told Vogue. “He was always so open and really uplifting as a person, and when he first invited me to be a part of the family, I truly didn’t believe it. Now, seeing people here wearing my clothes is just mind-blowing.” In October 2024, the driver launched a separate lifestyle collection with Dior.
Hamilton, a vegan, is a restaurant investor and helped start the plant-based burger chain Neat Burger in August 2019. He’s also part of the ownership group for the Denver Broncos NFL team.
Capitalizing on his global platform, Hamilton has championed various social and political causes. A supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Hamilton and several other F1 drivers took a knee to protest racial inequality before the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix in July 2020. The series’ only Black driver, Hamilton has criticized the lack of diversity within F1 teams. His willingness to speak out helped him make Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2020.
Another topic important to Hamilton is LGBTQ+ rights. In 2023, he wore a rainbow-colored helmet for the Miami Grand Prix in response to recently passed legislation in Florida, which included a ban on classroom education about sexual orientation and gender identity. “The sport is going to be here whether or not I am. Whilst I’m here, I’m just going to try to continue to be supportive and just by being here and having that on my helmet hopefully that speaks volumes,” he said.
F1 Movie Producer
Hamilton’s global recognition has allowed him to foray into movies and other digital media projects. He made voice cameos in the animated movies Cars 2 (2011) and Cars 3 (2017), as well as the video game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016).
In 2023, Hamilton became a playable character skin in the popular Fortnite games through the title’s “Icon Series,” which has also featured NBA player LeBron James, actor and singer Ariana Grande, and soccer player Neymar.
Hamilton is a producer for the upcoming sports drama F1, inspired by the racing series. Scheduled to release in North America on June 27, 2025, the movie stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as drivers for the fictional Apex Grand Prix team. Hamilton advised filmmakers on the script and storyline and monitored Pitt’s in-car training. “I have such high hopes for it. I know we’re going to make the best racing movie that’s ever existed,” Hamilton said of the project.
Famous Girlfriends
Hamilton has never married and doesn’t have any children. Although the driver is currently believed to be single, he has been romantically connected—officially or otherwise—to some of the biggest names in entertainment.
In 2007, Hamilton began a nearly eight-year relationship with Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger. The pair were rumored to be engaged at one point—something Hamilton denied in early 2014—but ultimately separated for good in 2015.
After the split, Hamilton was spotted spending time with both Rihanna and Kendall Jenner in 2015, but he maintained that both connections were merely friendships. Over the next three years, the Brit was also rumored to be dating model Gigi Hadid, singer Rita Ora, model Winnie Harlow, model Sofia Richie, and rapper Nicki Minaj, but none of the relationships were ever confirmed.
In 2023, Hamilton was linked to four-time Grammy winner Shakira. The singer even traveled to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona to cheer on the driver. However, she denied their relationship was romantic in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Quotes
- I’m super-competitive naturally. I don’t care who it is. I just want to win.
- I still love driving. I still love getting into the car. When you start the car up and you have all those people around you, the crew, you go down the pit lane, I still get this smile on my face the same as I did the first day I drove.
- It’s almost like being in a snow globe—that’s the racing world. And there’s so much more outside of it that you just don’t have time to explore. I think if you go to an office every day and do the same process every single day, eventually you just zone out. You have to find something else that can soothe you, can keep your mind going.
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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
