Lewis Hamilton didn’t buy his way to Formula 1. He earned it.
Unlike many of his peers, Hamilton came from humble beginnings and his racing career started with remote-control cars. He was only six years old when he won his first two trophies for remote-control car racing.
As you can see in the video below, Hamilton has a laser-sharp focus paired with impressive hand-eye coordination. After a race like this, he would go home and watch Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna’s documentary Racing Is in My Blood on repeat.
Remote-control car racing led to go-karting, which put him on a path to Formula 1. He was fast, he was talented, and he was a winner. Hamilton joined the McLaren young driver program as a 13-year-old, and he eventually got officially sponsored by the F1 team at age 22. After six years with McLaren, Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013.
Since then, he’s made history on multiple fronts. At 36 years old, Hamilton tied racing legend’s Michael Schumacher’s seven-time world title record. With a few more years ahead of him, he is likely to break that record soon. (There was controversy around a failed eight-time win.)
Hamilton makes winning look easy, but the road to the podium was anything but.