Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is a British racing driver and seven-time F1 World Champion who drives for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team in the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship.

Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on January 7, 1985, to Anthony Hamilton and Carmen Larbalestier. Unlike some of the other drivers on the grid, Lewis Hamilton was born to more humble beginnings, and his father worked four different jobs to financially support the young aspiring racer.

Starting his racing career in 1993, Lewis Hamilton won multiple championships throughout his career in Karting. The list includes the British Cadet Kart Championship, Junior Yamaha Championship, McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future series, as well as the European Championship - Intercontinental A (JICA) class.

Collecting many successes during multiple series in between, a key moment came in 2006 when Lewis Hamilton joined GP2 with ART Grand Prix, and in his first season, he managed to win the championship. Many other successes before led to the McLaren F1 team noticing the young Brit, but this was his ticket to Formula 1.

In 2007, Lewis Hamilton joined the McLaren Formula 1 team, joining two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. From the first season, Hamilton showed he was a real deal when he equaled the pace of older, more experienced Fernando Alonso and lost the championship by only 1 point to Kimi Räikkönen.

In 2008 (his second season), Hamilton already won his first Formula 1 Championship. In 2013, Hamilton joined Mercedes, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher. This decision has brought a lot of fruit to the number 44 driver, and he has never left the team since then.

In years driving for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton managed to win six more titles in years 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Brit came close to breaking a record and becoming the only 8-time world champion in 2021; however, he lost to Max Verstappen on the last lap of the last race of the season, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton is arguably one of the most successful F1 drivers ever. The Brit is a holder of many records written in history books, including the most wins in F1 history, most pole positions, most podium finishes, and numerous others.