After three races in which he has been beaten by an inspired Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton’s jetset lifestyle and commitment to the sport has once again been questioned by the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart and Flavio Briatore, but the triple Formula 1 world champion is having none of it.
Speaking to Complex UK website, Hamilton scoffed at his detractors, “There was a point where I actually cared. And I guess just with age, I got to the point where I don’t need your validation.”
“I know my heart. I know how hard I work. I know my values. I know the love for my family. I know who I am as a person. And I enjoy my life. They don’t want me to enjoy it.”
“In my world they’re like: This is how a Formula 1 driver is: goes home, sleeps, wakes up, eats, breathes, and doesn’t do anything else but race. Can’t have a life outside.”
“People used to complain, they used to write shit about me all the time. I’m here or I’m doing that or I’m traveling too much or I’m this. And I travel like crazy. Like way more than any other racing driver.”
“I party when I wanna party and I make sure I fit my work in, and I arrive and I win. And you can’t say nothing! And that’s just the best. When you arrive and then you dominate and they’re like: Oh, guess he can do that.”
Hamilton revealed that he wants to emulate the greats and recalled how he approached Ron Dennis as a kid, “[To be a great] is definitely been the goal. That’s what I’ve worked towards for 23 years—I’ve been racing 23 years now.”
“Started when I was eight, I’m 31 now, and that was always the goal: to be the best. That’s always been the dream. Why dream small? When I was 10 years old I went to McLaren. Ayrton Senna was my favorite driver who I wanted to be like.”
“And I was like: Hey sir, I’m Lewis Hamilton I just won the British Championship. One day I want to be a Formula 1 driver and World Champion in your car. A Formula 1 World Champion in your car. Three years later he signed me and 10 years later I won the World Championship in his car.”
The three times world champion spoke of what inspires him and how as a young black race driver he broke into a world dominated by white people
“Cool Runnings is one of my favorite movies. There’d never been a Jamaican bobsled team. When they went to people and said: Would you like to sponsor the Jamaican bobsled team? People would laugh.”
“And my dad would tell me about going to all these companies: How would you like to sponsor the first black Formula 1 driver? And I just imagine them doing the same thing. And now they’re probably like: Shit…”
“Also, when they first arrived on top of the mountain with the real old sled and everyone stopped—it was just like me and my dad.”
“We arrived, the go-kart was stuffed in the back of the trunk, and all these people had tents and RVs and the best stuff. And we were just so amateur, you know? And it wasn’t like they stopped but they all looked. And it was almost exactly like that.”
“Like, all eyes are on us: What are they doing here?” We were the only black family. And it was just like that every weekend we arrived,” recalled Hamilton.
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