Five things we learned about Lewis Hamilton from his appearance on F1's new podcast

The first episode of Formula 1's new podcast series 'Beyond the Grid' started with a bang, as world champion Lewis Hamilton took a guest slot. What followed was a fascinating look into the making of a modern-day motorsport great. Here we pick out five things we didn't know before listening.

He got in a lot of trouble at school

It's probably worth it in the end, but skipping school in order to compete in junior formulae as a teenager landed a young Lewis in seriously hot water...

"My headmaster was a complete arsehole. He didn't agree with me taking time off and didn't support me, when I'd get back on Monday and he'd say, 'you took Friday off, you're in detention for the day'. For the whole day I'd sit outside his office looking at the wall, I was deprived of schooling. Tuesday I'd get to school 'you don't have your homework in' - so I got detention, I was always in trouble at school."

Nicole Scherzinger was his first (and only?) girlfriend

Lewis was in an on-off relationship with the American popstar for almost five years and although he has been linked with various females since, he has never officially been in another relationship. His time with Scherzinger helped him become the driver he was today though, he claims.

"I don't feel like I started to grow until I was in my mid-twenties, prior to that it was racing, racing, racing. If I was more open minded and grown at a younger age I would have been in a better position if I had the maturity of me at 26 years old at 22."

One of his biggest regrets

Beaching it at the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix? Becoming mortal enemies with former friend Nico Rosberg? Wearing some of that really rascal gear? Nope. One of Lewis' biggest regrets comes with his passion for music...

"I always wanted to play the piano, but I had one lesson with this classical teacher. The woman was 80 years old and I nearly fell asleep in the class and I stopped. Twenty years later, I'm like 'dammit I wish I'd stayed' because I'm learning now and I'd be a magician at the bloody piano, I'd be so good right now!"

He thought he'd be a father by now

Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean are - we think - the only fathers lining up on the grid in 2018, but Lewis could have been among their number had he stuck to his original life plan...

"I always said I would have kids when I'm 28 and then I got to 28 and I was like 'hell no'. I'm 33 now and I'm delaying it, I'm going to delay it as long as possible. I have so many projects and I just wouldn't have the time. Plus I've not met the person I'm going to do that with."

His dog Roscoe had a pretty disgusting habit

We'll just let Lewis tell the story here...

"I had to get him snipped because, poor guy, he would wake up randomly and just frigging ejaculate everywhere and he would get scared, he didn't know what had happened. It was bad, because it was everywhere so he had to get the snip."

Ew...

If you want to listen to the whole episode, check it out below!