“From driving a fifth hand car to being a $285 million net-worth Champion”- Lewis Hamilton reveals the moment that kickstarted his legendary racing career

Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, but it all started with him driving a fifth hand go kart. 

To make it to Formula 1, everyone has to start from scratch. It’s an exclusive sport, reserved for some of the most privileged people on earth, and to get into it from a humble background is extremely rare.

Hamilton did not have all the money in the world as a kid, but he still worked hard with immense help from his father Anthony. He stood out in every series he took part in, including the karting circuit. This may be a surprise, since the now Mercedes driver started out with a fifth-hand kart.

During an interview with Gayle King, Hamilton shared an instance from his childhood. He explained how he wanted a go-kart for Christmas, and his father put together some money to make his dream come true. It was the moment that officially kickstarted his path to where he is today.

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Christmas day which changed life of Lewis Hamilton forever

Hamilton revealed how he asked for a go-kart, and his father made sure his dream came true. It wasn’t a brand new one, but it was enough for him to use it as a stepping stone to bigger things.

“He bought me um for Christmas I remember, I’ve not really ever spoken about it,” he said. “But I remember I used to wake up and spend Christmas day with my mum and then go to my dad’s in the afternoon and when I went to my dad’s I had asked for a go-kart.”

“I walked and I got to the house,” the 37-year old continued. “And I looked through the letter box and I could see all the way down the hallway to the dining room table and there was this massive present on it and I kind of knew that might be it was yeah.”

“But it was really great because my stepmom she did the sewing for my suit and I had this helmet and my dad just put so much pride into making this car look brand new it was it was fifth hand car yeah and arrived at the first practice.

Today, Hamilton is F1’s most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. He has seven World Championships to his name, which is the most won by a driver alongside German legend Michael Schumacher.

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