John N
Lewis Hamilton is one of the most successful drivers in the history of Formula 1, and the most successful driver to have come from the United Kingdom. Ever since his first race back in Australia, 2007, his star shone brightly and it has only gotten brighter over the last few years since he joined the Mercedes F1 team.
Here are five facts about Sir Lewis Hamilton you need to know :
- He started racing at the age of 8
Young Hamilton started karting at age 8 and by age 10, he had already won the British Karting Championship, the STP Karting Championship, and the Mercedes Champions of the Future Series where his future sponsor, McLaren-Mercedes, would then notice him.
- He has driven for only two F1 teams
Formula 1 drivers are often switching teams, especially in the modern age of the sport. Nico Hülkenburg started off at Williams, took a year out before racing with Force India, then went to Sauber and then back to Force India. He is now at Renault. Lewis Hamilton has only ever driven for two teams: McLaren, which he raced for from 2007 through 2012 and Mercedes, where he has been since the 2013 season. He will probably end his career with Mercedes. Even Sebastian Vettel, synonymous with Red Bull and now Ferrari, has driven for more teams: in addition to Red Bull and Ferrari, he also drove for BMW Sauber in one race in 2007 and for Scuderia Toro Rosso in late 2007 and all of 2008.
- Only one Loss in the Turbo-hybrid ERA.
Hamilton moved to Mercedes in 2013, having one eye on rule changes which came into effect in 2014. F1 cars changed from using V8 engines to using V6 turbo-hybrids from 2014 onwards. During the first few years, Hamilton was locked in an intense battle for the title with teammate Nico Rosberg, and Mercedes were a cut above the rest of the field, except for a few wins for Red Bull and Ferrari. Though he has so far lost just one title in this period, 2016, it was generally a poor year for him. He had many poor starts and his only big engine failure in Malaysia cost him the title. So many people think that he failed that year. However, had he just won one more race (particularly that Malaysian Grand Prix), he would’ve won the title again.
- All Time Pole Position Holder
In 2017, Lewis Hamilton set the record for most pole positions in F1 history, breaking Michael Schumacher’s previous record of 68. Ayrton Senna previously held the second-highest number of poles at 65, until Hamilton took that record as well. The current record is held by Lewis Hamilton with his stay in F1 guaranteed until at least the end of 2022.. However, Ferrari and Red Bull are now right on Mercedes’ heels, so it will be much harder to see him break any more records right now.
- Lewis Hamilton dominated the Junior series
In modern open-wheel racing, drivers can expect tough competition once they progress through the junior formulas. Formula 3 and Formula 2 are fiercely competitive as young drivers vie for the attention of team bosses on the Formula 1 grid. But for Hamilton, he simply blew the field away in 2005. In the Formula 3 Euro Series, he won 15 out of 20 races and took 13 pole positions. He wrapped up the championship ahead of rivals including Adrian Sutil, Lucas di Grassi, and Sebastian Vettel by 78 points.
Taking the step up to GP2 the following year, Hamilton continued his momentum. With his nearest rivals including Nelson Piquet Jr. and Timo Glock, Hamilton won the series at the first time of asking, albeit by the finer margin of 12 points.
- Lewis Hamilton is the fourth Formula 1 driver to be knighted
Having equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles, Lewis Hamilton was bestowed a knighthood in the 2021 New Year’s Honors by the Queen.He follows in the footsteps of Sir Jack Brabham (three titles), Sir Stirling Moss (no titles), and Sir Jackie Stewart (three titles).
