F1 News: Lewis Hamilton admits being ‘UNHAPPY’ despite achieving dream

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Australia, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Legends

Hamilton admits being ‘UNHAPPY’ despite achieving F1 dream

The seven-time champion in an honest interview

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 3 April 2024 08:27

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that there was 'so much missing' from his life during the early days of his Formula 1 career.

The Brit is a seven-time world champion in the sport and is one of the most successful drivers of all time, having won the most races (103) and claimed the most pole positions (104) across a legendary career.

Article continues under video

Hamilton started his F1 career with McLaren in 2007, impressing in an incredible rookie season before winning his first championship in 2008.

Having suffered four seasons without adding to his championship haul, Hamilton decided to make the move to Mercedes, where he went on to win six more championships in his first eight seasons with the team.

However, his ability to claim race victories in the last two seasons has been hampered by an underperforming Mercedes team, and prompted the 39-year-old to look for a new challenge with Ferrari from 2025.

Lewis Hamilton won his first championship in 2008

Lewis Hamilton has not won a race since 2021

Hamilton makes sad admission

Now, in a lengthy interview with GQ Magazine, Hamilton has admitted that he is much more content with his life as it is now than when he was fighting for championships earlier in his career.

The Brit lives a lavish lifestyle off-track, and is involved in multiple business ventures and charitable causes.

“When I first got into Formula 1, it was wake up, train, racing-racing-racing-racing, nothing else," he said.

"There’s no space for anything else. But what I realised is that just working all the time doesn’t bring you happiness, and you need to find a balance in life, and I found out that I was actually quite unhappy.”

“There was so much missing, there was so much more to me. And it was crazy, because I was like: 'I’m in Formula 1, I reached my dream, and I’m where I always wanted to be, I’m on top, I’m fighting for the championship'. But I was just not – it was not enjoyable.

“It’s almost like being in a snowglobe – that’s the racing world,” he continued.

“And there’s so much more outside of it that you just don’t have time to explore. I think if you go to an office every day and do the same process every single day, eventually you just zone out.

"You have to find something else that can soothe you, can keep your mind going.”

READ MORE: Mercedes confirm SPECIAL return

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes McLaren Formula 1 Michael Schumacher Felipe Massa