Lewis Hamilton: Bred for Greatness

Lewis Hamilton: Destined for Greatness from the Very Beginning

Giancarlo Perlas March 4, 2015

Lewis Hamilton is certainly on top of his game once more. With his impressive driving skills and a great car made by Mercedes-AMG, his 2014 Formula One World Championship was certainly sealed. However, some might not be aware that Hamilton has been winning races since he was still too young to even get a driver’s license. So, let’s revisit his earlier racing career to shed light to his colorful story.

Lewis Hamilton in His Early Years

As early 1991, Hamilton was already racing. But that time, it only involved radio controlled cars. Following that year, he bagged the second place in a BRCA championship event. That time, his father decided to buy him his first go-kart with the condition that he will work hard in school.

At eight years old, Hamilton already started his karting career. Just two years later, he took home the British title after emerging victorious in every category of karting.

It should be noted that his father, Anthony Hamilton, struggled to support the passion of his son. The father of Lewis Hamilton often had to juggle multiple jobs for it. So, if there’s someone who should be credited most to his success, it would be his dad.

By 1998, McLaren recognized Hamilton’s potentials and signed him up for its young driver program. Again, fast-forward to year 2000 when he was still 15, he became the youngest to become Karting World Number One.

The Briton’s pre-F1 years notably in 2003 up to 2006 also saw him snag the first place in various racing organizations such as the Formula Renault 2.0 UK, Bahrain F3 Super Prix, Masters of Formula 3, Formula 3 Euro Series, and GP 2 Series.

Formula One Run of Lewis Hamilton

The career of Hamilton with Formula One finally started in 2007. Everyone immediately took notice of the young rookie, especially when he immediately conquered the second place of the season even beating his teammate and 2005-2006 F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton rebounded the next season and won his first F1 World Championship under the McLaren banner. He would repeat the same performance again in 2014 under Mercedes team to regain the title, but this time with a whopping 384 season points compared to his 2008 run’s 98 points.

With Mercedes looking to have a significant edge again in its cars, Hamilton will likely win his third World Title in F1, or at least finish in the top two in 2015 season.