Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton,[2]MBE(born 7 January 1985) is aBritish Formula One racing driverfrom England, currently racing for theMercedes AMGteam. He is the2008Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born inStevenage, Hertfordshire.[3]In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principalRon Dennisat the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme.[4]After winning theBritish Formula Renault,Formula Three Euroseries, andGP2championships on his way up the racing career ladder,[4]he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Hamilton's contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in aFormula Onedrive.[5]Coming from amixedbackground, with a black father and white mother,[4][6]Hamilton is often labelled "the firstblackdriver in Formula One",[3][4][6][7][8]although he wasnt that fast as nico rosberg.Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 inStevenage, Hertfordshire, England.[3]Although widely reported as being named after American sprinterCarl Lewis, Hamilton states that this is not the case.[11]Hamilton's mother, Carmen Larbalestier, iswhite British, while his father, Anthony Hamilton, isblack British, making himmixed-race,[4](Anthony Hamilton's parents emigrated fromGrenadato the United Kingdom in the 1950s).[4][12]Lewis Hamilton's parents separated when he was two, as a result of this he lived with his mother and half-sisters Nicola and Samantha[13]until he was twelve, when he started living with his father, stepmother Linda and half-brotherNicolas(who hascerebral palsy).[14]In early 2011, Nicolas signed withTotal Control Racingto start a racing career in the 2011Renault Clio Cup.[15]Hamilton was raised a Roman Catholic.[16]

Anthony Hamilton, Lewis' father, celebrating with Lewis after the2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. From this point until March 2010 Anthony Hamilton also managed his son.[17]Hamilton's father bought him aradio-controlled carin 1991, which gave him his first taste of racing competition. Hamilton finished second in the nationalBRCAchampionship the following year. He said of the time: "I was racing these remote-controlled cars and winning club championships against adults".[18]As a result of this his father bought him his firstgo-kartas a Christmas present at the age of six.[19]His father told him that he would support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school. Supporting his son became problematic, which caused him to take redundancy from his position as an IT Manager and became a contractor. He was sometimes employed in up to three jobs at a time, while still managing to find enough time to attend all Hamilton's races. He later set up his own computer company as well as working as a full-time manager for Hamilton.[20]Hamilton is now managed bySimon Fuller.[21]Hamilton was educated atThe John Henry Newman School, avoluntary aidedCatholic secondary school in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.[22]Alongside his interest for racing, he played association football for his school team withEngland internationalmidfielderAshley Young.[20]Hamilton said that if Formula One had not worked for him he would have been a footballer, being a big fan ofArsenal F.C.[23]or a cricketer, having played both for his school teams as a youngster. He subsequently attended, in February 2001, Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS), a private sixth-form college in Cambridge.[24]At the age of five Hamilton took up karate in order to defend himself as a result of bullying at school.[25]At around 12, he learned to ride aunicycle, as part of his karting rivalry with future F1 Mercedes teammate,Nico Rosberg, who could already ride one.[26]