When Anthony Hamilton Predicted His Son Lewis Hamilton Will Become the ‘GOAT’ of F1

Tanish Chachra | 04/02/2025
44 Lewis Hamilton (GBR, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team) and his father Anthony Hamilton, F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 7, 2024 in Silverstone, Great Britain

Lewis Hamilton has had an inspirational journey in motorsports. Starting from the bottom and reaching the pinnacle wasn’t easy but defying the odds, the seven-time world champion became a synonym for the sport.

In his journey, his father Anthony Hamilton had a significant role to play. Believing in his ability, Anthony worked four jobs a day to fund Lewis’ karting career. The same belief made Anthony make a prediction for his son in 2007 when the British driver lost the championship by a point in his rookie season.

“My son, Lewis Hamilton, is going to be the greatest driver that ever hit the business,” declared Anthony. Lewis didn’t disappoint Anthony and made his dad’s prediction right. At present, Lewis is statistically the most successful driver and can be argued as the greatest to ever grace the sport.

But Anthony was right about another thing. He expected “all the euphoria” to come eventually, and that is what happened. Lewis clearly has the biggest fanbase and is the most followed celebrity in the sport.

Ferrari fans recently celebrated the arrival of Lewis at Maranello with all the galore. A large number of fans waited in cold temperatures to witness Hamilton driving at their circuit.

This only happened because of Lewis’ talents. Though his father’s contributions can’t be ignored as well, there was also a time when the two couldn’t see eye to eye.

The split and reunion of Hamiltons

At the beginning of Lewis’ career, Anthony was his manager. Their relationship took a hit because of their professional engagement and it was reported that the father and son duo didn’t talk for a long time.

“I really just wanted him to be my dad. Let’s go and have fun, let’s laugh. We hadn’t had that for a long, long time,” said Lewis on the On Purpose podcast.

Eventually, time healed everything, and in recent years Anthony returned on track to support his son once again. Lewis once admitted that their time off from their professional relations helped them to recover their personal bond.

To date, Lewis credits his father for his success in F1. Back in 2020, when the Brit sealed his seventh world title, he confessed his dad was the first person he thought about.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Anthony Hamilton Lewis Hamilton

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Don’t miss these