Hamilton told Merc he’s ‘not weird’ upon arrival

Jamie Woodhouse
Sir Lewis Hamilton

Sir Lewis Hamilton told Mercedes he was "no weird" upon joining the team.

Sir Lewis Hamilton told Mercedes he was “not weird” when he first joined – he is simply the way he is, and they gave him the space to grow.

Hamilton first arrived on the Formula 1 grid in 2007 and made an instant impact with McLaren, falling only a point short of becoming World Champion in his rookie season.

He achieved that goal the following season, but after being unable to repeat the accomplishment with McLaren, Hamilton made a surprise switch to Mercedes for 2013.

That proved to be a year when the foundations were laid for unprecedented dominance from Hamilton and Mercedes as in 2014, the German outfit embarked on a run of seven Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in a row.

Hamilton became a seven-time World Champion in 2020 and now has ambitions of an eighth.

And he feels that key to this future success was him telling Mercedes he was not a “weird” person upon joining the team, and that he wanted to grow with them.

“It’s a relationship like no previous relationship,” Hamilton told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

“When I joined the team I immediately said ‘I am the way I am, I’m not weird but I am just the way I am. I’m happy with who I am and besides I want to win championships for you, I want to grow’.

“They gave me the space to grow and that’s why I ended up with the best team in Formula 1 to be able to do that.”

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes PA
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes PA

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Hamilton is one of the most unique personalities both on and off the track, and his lifestyle certainly reflects that.

He openly promotes that he is a vegan, while in recent years Hamilton has made great strides in raising awareness of diversity both in Formula 1 and in everyday life.

Mercedes have embraced this, and Hamilton feels that has brought only positives to the team.

“My lifestyle has also not changed anything. We have won a lot, we are the strongest team, full of sponsors, we have been followed the most on social media and everything stems from a fundamental part of the co-operation,” he explained.

“It’s looking from above at the best solution, never alone and always different, trying out roads. Success is right under your nose but it comes from very far away.”

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