Lewis Hamilton - Lewis Hamilton - My Story

To the people who made this all possible

To my family, to McLaren and to Mercedes-Benz

LEWIS

HAMILTON

MY STORY

HarperSport An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Cover

Dedication To the people who made this all possible To my family, to McLaren and to Mercedes-Benz

Title Page LEWIS HAMILTON MY STORY HarperSport An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 RESOLVE

2 INSPIRATIONS

3 CONFIDENCE

4 STARTING OUT

5 CLIMBING

6 DREAMS

7 RUNNING

8 UNBELIEVABLE!

9 FORMULA FAME

10 WINNING

11 SILVERSTONE

12 ADVERSITY

13 STRIFE

14 FAME

15 CONTROVERSY

16 PRESSURE

17 SAMBA

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Career Statistics

Index

Picture Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

‘That I led the championship from the third race of the season all the way to the last was an amazing feat in itself, even if it meant the final outcome was tinged with some disappointment. I soon got over that, though…’

MY STORY IS NOT ABOUT LUCK OR A FAIRY TALE. It is about hard work, about my family’s sacrifices and determination, my dad’s huge support for me and many other people’s belief and kindness. I found I had a talent and I have worked as hard as possible to develop it so that I can be successful and in the process inspire others, if I can, to achieve a dream.

It has been an unbelievable year, easily the most exciting and challenging of my life. From the start in Melbourne, which seems so long ago now, to the finish in São Paulo, I travelled through a phenomenal Formula One year, winning four races, finishing as runner-up in five, and battling for podium finishes in a few others, in my rookie season with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.

That I led the championship from the third race of the season all the way to the last was an amazing feat in itself, even if it meant the final outcome was tinged with some disappointment. I soon got over that, though – thanks to my dad’s endless positive energy and example, and the McLaren team’s great spirit, not to mention a memorable team party organized by Vodafone on the Sunday night after that final race at Interlagos. It summed up our unity at the end of a very trying season and I admit I enjoyed the opportunity to let my hair down a bit with my friends and team-mates. Shoot, it was worth it! I ended the season with good vibes. I felt proud of the team for the way they had worked through to the end of a really difficult, troubled year. The São Paulo party was good for us all. Ron Dennis made a speech and said some really good things and we had a great evening. It just rounded off the whole year and, when I was mentioned a couple of times, it made me feel proud to be part of that team.

So much happened to me in such a short a space of time that, when the season ended, I felt like I needed to stop, look back and take stock of what had happened. But in Formula One there is no time for that. The search for progress is relentless, the appetite for success, improvement and frontier-breaking unquenchable. Stand still for a moment and your rivals will pass you. Whoooosh! That is the competitive nature of the sport. It comes out in every aspect of all of the teams’ activities. Nothing is left to chance, no stone left unturned, in pursuit of greater speed, efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of a racing team. And that restlessness reflects the way I have always felt about my life in racing. I always want to move on and on, to keep going forward to the next level and the next challenge. But I always want to succeed properly, fair and square, out on the track and not in any other way.

I had arrived in São Paulo leading the championship by four points, but I left in second place, just a single point behind the new champion Kimi Räikkönen. I may have been hit by mechanical problems, but I was beaten fair and square on the Interlagos track by Kimi and his Ferrari. It was no time for recriminations or complaints. I do not believe in doing that; I do not blame my team when things happen. We all win and lose together. Kimi drove superbly and won six races in all, including three out of the final four Grands Prix. He deserved his success. That is why I was quick to congratulate him at the end of the race in the parc fermé . I felt sore for myself, but I felt happy for Kimi – he is a cool guy and he has been a great competitor this year.

I had just finished my rookie year at the age of 22. I knew I had a future in Formula One and, with reasonable luck, plenty more opportunities to win the World Championship. I had no doubt about that. It had been a fantastic season and instead of feeling down, or in any kind of pain, I felt we had a lot to celebrate and enjoy. I felt proud of the way the team had come through a sometimes stormy, controversial year and I felt proud, too, of my family and all my friends and supporters who had helped me to get where I was, so close to the title in my first season. It was a day to be happy. In the end, the year was not decided by that one race in Brazil, but a whole championship season.

It was also one of the most exciting Formula One seasons ever, at least on the track. If somebody had told me a year ago that I would be fighting for the World Championship at the end of the 2007 season, I would have said they were dreaming. But that is what happened. In the end, I lost by just one point, but I proved I had the potential to be involved in more and more championship fights in the future. Nobody would have predicted that I would finish second in my first season, so there was no reason for anything but celebrations. I did my best, the team did their best and there was nothing any of us could do to change things. In all honesty, at the end, I just felt it had been a really intense, crazy year and, truly, I did not feel gutted by the outcome. It was cool. I believed and still believe in the team and the car, and I am looking ahead with real optimism.

Who would have thought I would be leading the World Championship going into the last race? Who could have imagined the crowds we had at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix? Who would have dreamt that I would go to North America and win back-to-back Grands Prix in Canada and the United States? Or win four races and start from pole position six times in 17 races?

I know it was all against me in the end, and that the final two races were bad results for me, but I plan to learn from that and to go into next year and try to improve all round. I am going to come back fitter, more relaxed and more experienced – and I will have a better car and I will push harder for the championship. To think I came straight from GP2 to be ranked number two in the world is a positive thing and I know we will be strong next year. We will do a better job, for sure, the team will keep pushing and I have got the experience now and I will bank that. I cannot wait for the next race! Of course, I felt emotional afterwards in Brazil, at least a little bit. I try not to show emotions, but I cannot deny that I felt it a little when the season ended.

When I think back, there are so many great memories: my GP2 Championship, then the opportunity to test for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and those early tests at Silver-stone and at Jerez in September and October 2006. They were just a year before the title-decider in Brazil. I remember that first week of testing at Silverstone when I wore some other dude’s race suit to start with, and it smelt. When I got my own, I thought it was so cool, I wanted to sleep in it! The whole journey for me, from my earliest days as part of the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz family to Formula One, has been quite emotional. And this last year has been a rollercoaster.