Lewis Hamilton

Interesting facts

He got his first go-kart for Christmas at age six; his father Anthony made continued support conditional on doing well at school, while juggling multiple jobs at once - including stints as a double-glazing salesman and a dishwasher - to fund his racing. At around age ten he walked up to McLaren boss Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards and announced his ambition to race for the team one day; Dennis replied 'Phone me in nine years' - then signed him into McLaren's young driver programme anyway in 1998, aged just 13. His 2007 rookie season set records that stood out even by F1 standards: nine consecutive podiums from his debut and four wins, before he lost the title to Kimi Räikkönen by a single point. At the 2008 season finale in Brazil, he passed Timo Glock in the final corners of the final lap to snatch fifth place and his first world title by exactly one point over Felipe Massa. After 15 years with McLaren he switched to Mercedes in 2013, and in 2025 he joined Ferrari - calling it a 'childhood dream' - his first ever drive for a team not powered by Mercedes engines. Lewis Hamilton has been racing in Formula 1 since 2007 as a British driver. He won the World Championship 7 times, in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. He scored a total of 5209.5 championship points over his career.