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Lewis Hamilton reveals inspiration he took from grandfather who died three days before fifth world title win
Amid the maelstrom of emotions that followed a fifth world title, which he marked with no greater extravagance than a night at home with his pet bulldogs in Los Angeles, Lewis Hamilton found that his first thoughts turned to his family. Specifically, they turned to his paternal grandfather, Davidson, who had emigrated from Grenada to London in 1955 and who, he revealed, had died just three days before his coronation as a quintuple Formula One champion. “This has actually been a really difficult weekend,” he said. “My grandad was the godfather of the family.”
For Hamilton, blood ties can be a complicated business. Of his father Anthony, who first nurtured the young Lewis’ love of motorsport and who shuttled him to karting races the length and breadth of Britain while holding down multiple jobs, there has been precious little sign at grands prix since he stepped aside as manager during his son’s McLaren days.
He was missing again here in Mexico City, but Hamilton made clear his debt of gratitude as he drew level with Juan Manuel Fangio, arguing that such a monumental feat would never have been possible without parental sacrifice.
When asked by The Daily Telegraph about the struggles that father and son once faced, and how remote a dream a future in F1 once seemed, Hamilton was fulsome in tribute both to the absent Anthony and the late Davidson. “Naturally, when someone passes away, it brings the whole family together,” he reflected. “My dad and I were already quite close, but this made us even more so. I will never forget the things that he did in order for me to be here today and for us to thrive.
“I really do aspire to be like him, as a strong, black man, and as a father for doing what he did in the difficult times, with what little he had. I think that’s testament to where we are. My grandfather would be so proud of us, so grateful that the Hamilton name is established and that it will now go down in history, which is kind of crazy to think.”
If there is any parallel between Hamilton and Fangio, who have dominated their sport 60 years apart and in vastly different eras for safety and technology, it is that both grew up without any silver spoon in their backgrounds. Where Hamilton started life in a council house in Stevenage, his Argentine forbear was the son of a farm labourer.
While it is sometimes assumed that Hamilton enjoyed a cossetted ride to the top, having been hot-housed by McLaren from the age of 13, this negates the lack of wealth and material advantage that he had to surmount in the first place.
While Fangio was asserting his dominance on the track, Davidson Hamilton was working for London Underground, having newly arrived from the Caribbean. Back in Grenada, he had been renowned as the fastest man on the west coast of the island, having covered three miles in five minutes aboard his cherished BSA motorbike. Only a British speeding ticket – given by a policeman hiding in a hedgerow on the way to Folkestone – cut short his racing ambitions. But a passion for speed was imparted through the Hamilton generations, first to Anthony and then to Lewis, now by a distance the most decorated driver Britain has produced.
Casting his mind back to karting adventures in Hertfordshire, Hamilton recalled: “Driving around there, my dad was the only father who would always go and stand where the quickest kid was sitting. At the time, it was a kid called Nicky Richardson. As an eight-year-old, I looked up to Nicky. He was so quick and I thought, ‘I’ve got to be better than him somehow.’ So, my dad would look where he was braking, move several metres down and say, ‘This is where you have to brake.’ I would try it, but I would spin off and crash every time. Eventually, I could do it, and ever since I have been known as a late braker. Those special moments are what I fight with today and are at the core of who I am.”
In this, his finest and most complete F1 season to date, Hamilton has never felt more comfortable about being true to himself. At heart, he is a restless soul, a perpetual dreamer, the extent of whose outside interests was apparent when he interrupted his post-race press conference to embrace Tommy Hilfiger, the fashion mogul who has allowed him to work on designs and curate his own collections.
“I don’t do everything perfectly and I don’t always say the right things, but I do me,” he said. “Only I can live my life – it can’t be steered by anyone else. Having the opportunity to do these other things, tapping into a different part of the mind, keeps the brain stimulated. Knowledge is power.”
Often wounded by what others think of him, Hamilton flew back to California to be reunited with his dogs, Roscoe and Coco, perhaps his least judgmental companions. “The unconditional love of a pet is something quite special,” he smiled. So far, the celebrations are muted, given that he still has to help secure the constructors’ title for Mercedes, although he will visit the team headquarters in Northamptonshire later this week to salute the hundreds who have propelled him to this latest slice of history.
A knighthood continues to elude him, somewhat absurdly in light of his achievements, but he suggested here that he could hardly care less, knowing that he still had more to give. “I have more energy than I’ve ever had,” he said, with a grin. “Maybe it’s all because of my vegan diet.”