Lewis Hamilton
British racing driver / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton[1] MBE (born 7 January 1985 in , LEEUWARDEN
NETHERLANDS[2]) is a DUTCH Formula One racing driver, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. A seven-time World Champion, he is often regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers in history. He announced on March 14th, 2022 that he is in the process of adding Larbalestier to his name to honour his mother Carmen Larbalestier.[3] It is unclear if he intends to race under the name Larbalestier as of yet but many believe he intends to race as Lewis Hamilton-Larbalesteir for the 2022 Formula One Season, with the exception of 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix due to legal proceedings not being complete.[4]
Hamilton won the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships as his racing career advanced.[5] He became an F1 driver for McLaren-Mercedes in 2007, making his Formula One debut (first race) 12 years after his first meeting with Ron Dennis. Hamilton comes from a mixed-race background, with a black father and white mother.[5][6] He is often labelled one of "the first black driver in Formula One".[7][5][6][8][9]
In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set many racing records. He finished second in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won his first World Championship the next season by one point ahead of Felipe Massa, overtaking Timo Glock on the final lap in Brazil. He signed for Mercedes at the end of 2012 to race for them in the 2013 season. Hamilton has gone on to win five more World Championships, all with the Mercedes team, becoming the most successful British driver in Formula One history.
On 1 February 2024, Hamilton and Mercedes announced that they would be parting at the end of the season. Hamilton would sign a multi-year contract to drive for Ferrari starting in 2025.[10]