Lewis Hamilton Biography

Named after American sprint legend Carl Lewis and growing up idolising Ayrton Senna, it's perhaps no surprise that Lewis Hamilton was born for a life of speed, and he has gone on to make the most of it. Hamilton is not only the most successful driver of his generation, but his continued success has elevated into the conversation for all-time legendary status, with his racing talent now matched by a bulging collection of race wins, titles and honours. Already Formula 1's most successful qualifier of all time, having eclipsed Michael Schumacher's record for pole positions in 2017, he begins 2019 with five titles to the great German's seven and within sight of his tally of 91 race wins previously thought impossible to eclipse. Having utterly dominated the V6 Hybrid era, we look back at Hamilton's stellar career to date, starting where it all began…

Stunning debut with McLaren

Having been signed by McLaren as a 13-year-old, great things were expected of Hamilton and he debuted in 2007 with plenty of hype after winning GP2 the previous year ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. Partnered by reigning two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren, who was strong title favourite.