Lewis Hamilton deservedly won his third World Championship in Austin last weekend, after winning a thrilling United States Grand Prix. I, therefore, feel that his racing career should be looked back on in this article; Formula Flashback: Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton was born on the seventh of January 1985 in Stevenage, England. The man from Hertfordshire isn’t the only racing driver in the family, brother Nicolas – who suffers with cerebral palsy – has raced in championships such as the Renault Clio Cup. Lewis Hamilton began karting at the age of eight years old in 1993, at Rye House Kart Circuit. He started to participate in Cadet class championships and quickly began winning races. A somewhat foreshadowing moment was when ten-year-old Hamilton approached the McLaren Formula One Team boss, Ron Dennis, for an autograph. The young Hamilton told Dennis that ‘[he] won the British Championship and one day [he wants] to be racing [his] cars.’ Dennis signed his book, ‘Phone me in nine years, we’ll sort something out then.’
Hamilton continued to drive for Martin Hines’ Zip Young Guns Karting Team and from the Cadets rank, he reached the Junior Yamaha championship in 1997. After winning an additional Super One series and his second British Championship, McLaren boss Ron Dennis called Hamilton which secured him a seat in the McLaren driver development program. This made him the youngest driver to secure a contract, if only Hamilton knew this would make him a future World Champion.
Speaking in 2001, Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher described Hamilton as ‘a quality driver, very strong and only sixteen. If he keeps this up I’m sure he will reach F1. It’s something special to see a kid of his age out on the circuit. He’s clearly got the right mental mentality.’
Hamilton continued his journey through motorsport by participating in the Intercontinental A in 1999, Formula A in 2000 and the Formula Super A in 2001. He also became the European Champion in 2000 with maximum points – he also raced for TeamMBM.com in both Formula A and Formula Super A. His team-mate for these championships was no other than current Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg. Hamilton was also made a ‘Rising Star’ member in 2000 by the British Racing Driver’s Club, due to his karting success.
Interestingly, in 2001 Michael Schumacher decided to make an exclusive return to karts. The German raced against Hamilton, along with future Formula One drivers Nico Rosberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi.
