Lewis Hamilton’s consistent excellence in 2015 has largely deprived the season of the tension and excitement that brings Formula 1 championships alive. So it was ironic that it was all there and more in the race in which he finally clinched his third world title. So, lets take a look into the life of Lewis Hamilton.
- Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire on January 7, 1985. His dad Anthony bought him a radio-controlled car when he was six which appears to have sparked his passion for fast cars. Lewis soon began go-kart racing and won his first British Karting Championship at the age of 8.
- The song I Think I’m In Love’ by the Pussycat Dolls was written about Hamilton by girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger
- He has three Blue Peter badges. Hamilton first went on the programme as a remote-control car driver aged six, then as a go-kart driver at 12, and finally as a Formula A driver aged 16.
- Hamilton follows a strict training regime, which includes a 6am run followed by a two-hour gym session in the afternoon to strengthen his neck muscles, which need to be strong because of the G-forces in an F1 car. This involves keeping his helmet on during training and stacking it with weights while doing his exercises.
- Before hooking up with Nicole Scherzinger one of Hamilton’s previous girlfriends was Vivian Burkhardt – a former Miss Grenada.
- Hamilton made his film debut in Disney Pixar’s Cars 2 in 2012. The F1 star was Britain’s entry in the “World Grand Prix”, starring alongside Owen Wilson and Michael Caine. Hamilton helped design his car in the movie.
- In his first season in Formula 1 Hamilton finished second in the 2007 Formula One championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the world championship the following season and is the only driver on the current grid to have won at least one race in each season he has competed in to date, with McLaren from 2007 until 2012, and with Mercedes since 2013.
- Until some time back, Hamilton had been managed by Simon Fuller’s management company XIX Entertainment for four years. Over the years Fuller has also managed the likes of David Beckham, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Andy Murray, Gary Barlow, Amy Winehouse and Annie Lennox. He first became famous managing the Spice Girls and was the creator of TV shows Pop Idol and American Idol.
- Hamilton has set the fastest time of any Formula One driver around the Top Gear test track for the show’s Star In A Reasonably Priced Car feature. Driving a Suzuki Liana he set a time of 1 minute 42.9 seconds. Second on the leaderboard is Mark Webber, with Sebastian Vettel third.
There goes our Man Crush Monday.