“Lewis Hamilton Is My Idol”: Mercedes’ ‘Next Rising Star’ on Picking 44 as His Racing Number

Mercedes have another prodigy in their wings — Kenzo Craigie. He is currently lighting up the karting scene in Britain, having won a few championships, and is also a part of Mercedes’ junior academy. While speaking in a feature video by Sky Sports F1, Kenzo revealed that he has chosen #44 as his racing number due to his idol Lewis Hamilton.

Like Hamilton, Kenzo has his father Paul Craigie’s support for pursuing motorsport. The 14-year-old prodigy seems to be emulating Hamilton’s trajectory of climbing up the ranks. As for his love for the seven-time world champion, Kenzo said,

“44 goes back to my idol Lewis Hamilton. I just wanna be like him when I grow up, being hopefully a seven-time world champion.”

In the last two years, Kenzo has tasted immense success in karting. Last month, he became the OKJ Karting world champion for 2024. He has also done exceptionally well in the Cadet class in the previous two years as in 2022, he won the British Kartmasters (GP Plate) and was also the vice-champion in the British Karting championship.

It won’t be too long before Kenzo steps up to the junior formulas of car racing and starts making his name as one of the talents to watch out for like Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman. For now, he is enjoying his association with Mercedes as a junior driver, and also got the chance to interact with Hamilton recently.

Kenzo sat in Hamilton’s F1 car

It was a day to remember for Kenzo as he got the chance to experience what Hamilton‘s F1 cockpit feels like. To make it better, the seven-time world champion was actually present in the garage when the 14-year-old was strapped into the W15.

The duo interacted as Hamilton was more than happy to answer questions from an inquisitive Kenzo. He asked the 39-year-old whether he felt his hands are too close in the tight space, that is the cockpit. While Hamilton admitted that it is quite close, he is now accustomed to it.

 

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Kenzo also highlighted how the seat felt comfortable despite it being a very tight space to get into. Hamilton explained to him how the seat is customized and molded to each driver’s body.

All in all, Kenzo felt delighted to sit in Hamilton’s car and interact with the legend. He mentioned, “Yeah, it’s an unbelievable experience to finally sit in one [F1 car].”