Hamilton edges out LeBron James to become 'most authentic' sport star

Lewis Hamilton has beaten legendary names such as NBA legend LeBron James and Formula 1 rival Max Verstappen to a key sporting title.

Hamilton may trail Max Verstappen in the F1 drivers' standings, but he leads the Red Bull star in others ways.

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Verstappen is on course for a fourth consecutive world title already this season while Hamilton's best finish was seventh in Bahrain.F1 team boss reveals promising Miami GP 'upgrade' for Ricciardo

But the Englishman has previously won seven titles - a record he shares with the great Michael Schumacher - and it has now emerged that he leads Dutchman Verstappen off the track as well.

And that's because Hamilton has been rated as the most authentic athlete in all off sports by SportsPro Media, who mined specific data as part of their Most Marketable Athletes series.

"To measure authenticity, NorthStar analysts tracked and coded athlete social posts across 17 different themes, including hobbies and interests, mentoring, showing gratitude to sponsors, and other factors that help make an athlete more relatable, such as speaking out on subjects like personal challenges and successes, mental health, family and pets," they explain.

The end result: Hamilton is regarded as the most authentic with a weighted scored of 54, ahead of US alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin in second on 53.56, and Barcelona and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski on 53.13.

LeBron is fifth with 52.69 points, while Verstappen is the second F1 driver in the top 10, in seventh with 51.3 points.

Hamilton has long been outspoken on social issues such diversity and inclusion in F1 and across wider society.

His social media activity over the last year showed him engage with 13 of the 17 identified authenticity themes, more than any other athlete in the top 125.

He also won bonus points for his relationship with his dog, Roscoe.

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