Lewis Hamilton famously took his mother’s, Carmen Larbalestier, last name in 2021 as a show of his affection towards her and her contribution to his hugely successful career. However, an unsurfaced journal has revealed that at the beginning of his F1 career, Hamilton did not offer to help his mother to pay for her flight tickets so that she could enjoy his debut in Australia.
The 7-time world champion has often credited his father, Anthony Hamilton, for his success in the motorsport. Hamilton has explained all his parents’ sacrifices to get him to reach his dream. But the biography of Hamilton written by Frank Worrall claims that Carmen was a little jealous of Lewis’ closeness with his father, Anthony
Hamilton’s parents got divorced when he was only two years old, but it wasn’t until the age of ten that Lewis moved out to live with his dad. The book reports that this split-up with her son had left Carmen heartbroken, but she knew she couldn’t further polish his son’s talent alone. The writer notes that this was an act of total selflessness, but after the Briton debuted in F1, he didn’t even offer to pay for his mother’s conveyance to watch him race an F1 car for the first time.
Lewis Hamilton and his mother didn’t see each other too often
Anthony Hamilton had made quite a fortune through his computer firm, as the book reported that back in 2001, 6 years before Hamilton made his debut, he bought a $830,000 home in one of the posh localities of England.
Meanwhile, Larbalestier lived in a blue-collar neighborhood in a house worth around $252,100 with her husband, Raymond. There was a lack of money that Larbalestier faced.
In 2007, it was revealed that Carmen had won a television contest awarding her a trip to Sydney to watch her son’s debut race at the Australian Grand Prix. The book implies that Hamilton had neither invited her to the race nor had offered to pay for her despite leading a lavish lifestyle himself.
Carmen Larbalestier was heartbroken as she sent her son away
Hamilton’s parents had spotted his talent for racing cars at a very young age. But as with any driver, nurturing him into a professional driver was an exhausting and challenging goal.
The 7-time world champion’s parents wanted to see their son bloom and train him for the sport he adored. Although, Carmen revealed that she had to let go because she could not keep up with that hectic life.
In an honest and heart-warming disclosure of the events, Hamilton’s mother said, “It was heartbreaking… but I had to let him go and live with his dad for him to become a star. His dad has worked hard to raise the money for Lewis’ career. Without his dad’s constant work, he would not have been able to continue as it’s a very expensive sport.”
