Lewis Hamilton explains why he is more excited for Brazil than Las Vegas

Hamilton in Brazil — Photo: © LAT Images

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton explains why he is more excited for Brazil than Las Vegas

Hamilton was made an honorary Brazilian citizen in the lead up to the Interlagos weekend

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Thursday 10 November 2022 22:04 Updated: 08:32

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Lewis Hamilton has proclaimed himself "more excited" by this weekend's São Paulo Grand Prix than next year's trip to Las Vegas.

The Mercedes driver attended a special launch event for the Nevada race following the Mexico City weekend where he wowed fans with a demonstration run including doughnuts and burnouts.

Asked how excited he is to return to Las Vegas to drive in anger, Hamilton said: “I’m way more excited to be in Brazil than the Vegas race right this second."

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After arriving in Brazil the seven-time champion collected his honorary citizenship while he also spent time in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

"I’ve always wanted to go to a favela and just experience what life is like for the men, women and children there," he continued.

“And flying to Rio, it was a beautiful experience. It was very humbling and incredibly insightful.

"I’m really proud of a really close friend of mine, JR, he’s an incredible artist who is doing so much within the community, trying to help kids with art and tapping into their creativity.

“And I got to play around with the kids. I was so welcomed. If you ever get a chance, you should definitely do it."

Hamilton urges Brazilian education improvement

In recent years, Hamilton has been at the forefront of efforts to improve diversity and increase opportunities for minorities in STEM subjects.

Following his trip to the favela, the 37-year-old was left with little doubt the Brazilian education system needs improvement.

“The point of it was that I just want to learn more about the country, I want to learn more about its people," said Hamilton.

"I’m learning more and more that the education system needs to be a lot better and that’s at the heart of everything for everybody.

“There are 50 million kids that are in schools but the public schools are not as good as what we have, for example, in England, and education is all about opportunity.

"Education is at the heart of that.”