Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers in F1 and he reveals how his father helped him master one of his key driving skills.
Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly the greatest driver of his generation. The seven-time world champion has always attributed his success in the pinnacle of motorsport to his father Anthony Hamilton.
Anthony has always played a crucial role in Lewis’ development in the sport throughout his illustrious career. He bought Lewis his first remote-controlled car when he was six and a go-kart for Christmas. It was love at first sight for the young Hamilton.
Anthony also helped Lewis pursue Go-karting when he was young. Over a span of seven years, Hamilton went from being an upstart at the Rye House Kart Circuit to a superstar in Formula Super A.
In a show with Graham Besinger, Hamilton revealed how his father taught him the late-braking technique during his karting days.
“My dad would go around and he would stand on the track and see where the best driver, the British champion, was braking,” Hamilton said.
“So, if he was breaking here for the corner that is over there, he[Anthony] would move further down the road, a couple of meters further. And he would be like, ‘you got to break here. Not where he’s breaking, break further.”
Lewis Hamilton was frustrated at his father
The late-braking technique is not something a driver on the grid can master easily. Hence, it requires a lot of patience and trials.
For young Hamilton too, it was difficult to adapt and he would fail repeatedly. But his father won’t let him give up and make him try until he did it successfully.
“I was so frustrated at my dad,” Lewis remarked. Anthony was strict and that’s why Lewis had to follow it like an order, “He didn’t explain it. It was like my dad my when he said something, you did it!”
During his karting days, while trying to master the technique, the young Hamilton went into the pond at the Rye House karting track.
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