Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. He is the 2008, 2014 and 2015 Formula One World Champion.In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, “I want to race for you one day … I want to race for McLaren.” Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault,Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder,he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Hamilton’s contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in a Formula One drive.Coming from a mixed background, with a black father and white mother,Hamilton is often labelled “the first black driver in Formula One”,although Willy T. Ribbs tested a Formula One car in 1986.In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season in dramatic fashion, becoming the then-youngest Formula One world champion in history before Sebastian Vettel broke the record two years later. Following his second world title in 2014, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2015, he became the first British driver in history to win consecutive F1 titles, and the second Brit to win three titles after Jackie Stewart. He also became the first English driver to reach that milestone.
He is the only driver in the history of the sport to have won at least one race in each season he has competed to date, with McLaren from 2007 until 2012, and with Mercedes since 2013. He has more race victories than any other British driver in the history of Formula One and is currently third on the all-time wins list, with 43 wins.In October 2007, Hamilton announced his intention to live in Switzerland, stating that this was because he wished to get away from the media scrutiny that he experienced living in the United Kingdom. Hamilton admitted under questioning on the television show Parkinson, which was broadcast on 10 November 2007, that taxation was partly responsible for his decision, in addition to wanting more privacy. Hamilton received public criticism from UK MPs including Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell for avoiding UK taxes. He settled in Luins in Vaud canton on Lake Geneva; other Formula One drivers, including world champions Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso, also live in Switzerland.Hamilton was one of several super-rich figures whose tax arrangements were singled out for criticism in a report by the charityChristian Aid in 2008.In November 2007, Hamilton started dating Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer of the American girl band Pussycat Dolls; it was announced in January 2010 that they split up to focus on their respective careers. However, they were seen together at the2010 Turkish Grand Prixand at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, on 13 June 2010. The couple split up and reunited numerous times between 2011 and 2013,but appeared to have got back together in November 2013. They split up again in February 2015.At the start of 2012, he moved his personal residence from Switzerland to Monaco, which is also a tax haven.At the start of 2013, Hamilton took delivery of a metallic red and black Bombardier Challenger 600 series private jet, tail plate number G-LCDH.Hamilton was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the 2009 New Year Honours.On 18 March 2009, Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race suit. This wax replica cost around £150,000 and took over six months to complete. In 2012, Hamilton featured in the cartoonTooned, alongside Jenson Button and comedian Alexander Armstrong.On 18 December 2007, Hamilton was suspended from driving in France for a month after being caught speeding at 196 km/h (122 mph) on a French motorway. His Mercedes-Benz CLK was also impounded.Two days before the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, Victoria Police witnessed Hamilton “deliberately losing traction” in his silver Mercedes-AMG C63, and impounded the car for 48 hours. Hamilton immediately released a statement of apology for “driving in an over-exuberant manner”. After being charged with intentionally losing control of a vehicle, Hamilton was eventually fined A$500 (£288), being described as a “Hoon” [boy racer] by the magistrate.Hamilton is a fan of art; one of his favourite artists is Andy Warhol. Prior to the 2014 United States Grand Prix, Hamilton wore a gold-framed version of Warhol’s Cars, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe painting hanging from a chain around his neck.One of Hamilton’s favourite cars is the AC Cobra. He owns two unrestored 1967 models, one black and one red. In February 2015, it was reported that Hamilton had purchased a Ferrari LaFerrari from “his rivals in Maranello.”Hamilton has an estimated personal fortune of £88m.