Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has looked back at the struggles in his premier class racing career that began in 2007 with McLaren.
As he prepares to fulfill his long-time dream of racing for Ferrari from the 2025 season opener in Australia this weekend, Hamilton acknowledged the lack of guidance and how that put him in tricky situations but expressed gratitude for the challenges that shaped his F1 career.
Hamilton is considered one of the sport’s most experienced drivers after 43-year-old Fernando Alonso, who races for Aston Martin. Following his early days with the Woking-based outfit, where he secured his maiden championship title, Hamilton spent 12 years with Mercedes, winning the other six titles.
Despite the huge success, he revealed times of distress where he “drowned” many times, describing his career as a roller-coaster ride. Speaking to the media ahead of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, he said:
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“Looking back when I was 22 years old, I wasn’t obviously mature, I had done all the homework in terms of how to drive a car, I had the natural ability but didn’t have a lot of foundation around me.
“I didn’t have a team around me as my dad and step-mum were booking my flights to come out here, and they are here this weekend, so it’s been a long journey with them.
“But I didn’t have any help prepping for something like this, it was just in the deep end everywhere I was and I drowned many times but as opposed to now, I am very comfortable in my skin.
“I know who I am, I know where I am going and I know what energy and time and effort I need to put into to get there, and at 22, I didn’t know that.”
Despite the hurdles he overcame to become one of the sport’s most successful drivers after Michael Schumacher, the 40-year-old is grateful for the opportunity to race in Formula One and expressed pride in the sport’s growth under CEO Stefano Domenicali. He added:
“But what a roller-coaster ride it’s been up until now and I am just incredibly grateful to be here and still have an opportunity, something that has been blowing my mind is that out of eight billion people, there’s only 20 drivers in Formula 1 and I’m one of those drivers.
“It is a privilege to be here and have this opportunity to do what we do year on year. It is great to see the audience grow, have the sport moving in the right direction and Stefano [Domenicali] resigning, thank god he is staying because it is good to have a neutral good leader at the forefront of the helm.”