Hamilton holds the record for 103 Grand Prix victories and is tied with motorsport legend Michael Schumacher for winning seven Formula One world championships. In 2021, he was knighted for his accomplishments and is considered to be one of the greatest racing car drivers of all time.
A young karting champ, Hamilton became pegged for greatness at the age of 13 when he was signed by Formula One to its drivers development program and landed on the cover of Autoweek magazine. He won his first championship with McLaren in 2008, and in 2013 joined the Mercedes-Benz team, where he started dominating the sport, repeatedly finishing first in back-to-back races. With his astonishing record chronicled in the hit Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” Hamilton has also been instrumental in expanding F1’s fan base around the world.
But throughout his journey, he has had to fight racism and harassment in a predominantly white sport. Now at the height of his success, Hamilton is using his platform to educate fans about the importance of diversity and has launched a charitable foundation, called Mission 44, to empower young people from underserved communities with science, technological, engineering and math programs, particularly giving back to his hometown of Stevenage, England.
