Lewis Hamilton

Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on January 7, 1985, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. Raised by his father Anthony, who worked multiple jobs to fund his son's racing career, Hamilton began karting at the age of eight. At ten years old, he famously approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day." Dennis wrote in Hamilton's autograph book, "Phone me in nine years."

Hamilton dominated the junior karting ranks, winning the British Karting Championship and the European Championship. He joined the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz young driver programme and progressed through single-seaters — winning the Formula Renault UK championship in 2003, the European Formula 3 championship in 2005, and the GP2 Series (now F2) championship in 2006 with ART Grand Prix.

True to Ron Dennis's words, Hamilton was signed by McLaren for the 2007 F1 season, becoming the first Black driver in the sport's history. His rookie season was sensational — he led the championship for much of the year and finished just one point behind champion Kimi Räikkönen. He made amends in 2008, winning the World Championship on the last corner of the last lap of the last race in Brazil, in one of the most dramatic finishes in F1 history.

Hamilton remained at McLaren until 2012, winning races regularly but unable to add another title due to McLaren's declining competitiveness and reliability issues. Then came the decision that changed everything: in 2013, Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes, a move widely criticised at the time as Mercedes had only won one race.

The gamble proved to be genius. The 2014 rule changes ushered in the turbo-hybrid era, and Mercedes produced a dominant car. Hamilton won his second title in 2014 and his third in 2015, both in fierce competition with teammate Nico Rosberg. After Rosberg won the 2016 title and retired, Hamilton embarked on an unprecedented run of success — winning the championship in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, equalling Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles.

During this era, Hamilton broke virtually every meaningful record in F1: most race wins, most pole positions, most podium finishes, and most points scored. His 2020 season, in which he won his seventh title, was one of the most dominant in history.

The 2021 season saw an epic battle with Max Verstappen that ended controversially in Abu Dhabi, with Hamilton losing the championship on the final lap. The subsequent years at Mercedes were difficult as the team struggled with the new regulations, though Hamilton still managed to add race wins to his tally.

Beyond racing, Hamilton has been a transformative figure in F1 and sport more broadly. He is a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion, founding the Hamilton Commission to improve representation of Black people in UK motorsport. He is also passionate about sustainability, veganism, and fashion, and was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours.

His move to Ferrari for 2025 fulfilled a lifelong dream of driving for the most iconic team in F1, opening a thrilling final chapter in one of the greatest careers in motorsport history.