Lewis Hamilton - Starting again at 40 years old.

Originally Published in: Gazzetta dello Sport

Originally Published on: Jan 7th 2025

Originally Written by: Giulia Toninelli

The birthday of the predestined one who had Senna as an idol, in Maranello for another bet after the Mercedes triumphs.

There are images capable of describing the greatness of Lewis Hamilton without the need for words. The embrace with his father after winning his first World Championship title with McLaren, the successes of the years of Mercedes domination, the sense of injustice hidden under the helmet at the end of the Abu Dhabi GP 2021. And it is precisely on the day of his fortieth birthday, at the start of a month that will lead him to begin his career in Maranello as a Ferrari driver, that the story of the English champion is captured within the timeless photographs of the sporting feats that have made him the most successful driver in Formula 1 history.

ⓒ LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT

THE BEGINNINGS Hamilton was the hungriest kid on the grid. A shy but extremely competitive little boy, with an innate talent that everyone clearly remembers. Those who knew him then, watching him maneuver on the go-karts in the UK and around Europe at the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, have the same memories of Lewis.

The yellow helmet, worn proudly in honor of his idol Ayrton Senna, the constant presence of his father Anthony, the humble family background that made him look different, even in appearance, from all the other young drivers who frequented the European kart tracks. Dad Anthony, who took on three jobs at once to allow his son to race, until McLaren recognized his generational talent and signed him at just 12 years old, helping to shape the driver until his arrival in F1.

ALONGSIDE MCLAREN The debut came quickly, bringing Hamilton to F1 at just 22 years old. It was 2007, and the most anticipated rookie lined up with McLaren alongside then two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. It was a season of infighting between the two teammates, a power struggle that saw young Lewis contesting the championship until the end of the season, only to ultimately watch it slip away into the hands of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari by just one point. However, the first world title was not long in coming, and Lewis clinched the championship the following year, in 2008, when on an unforgettable rainy Sunday in Interlagos, Brazil, Felipe Massa's Ferrari was unable to replicate the feat of the previous year. It was still him, the boy from Stevenage who grew up amid bullying and difficulties, but talent had led him to become a world champion. THE

MERCEDES DOMINANCE In 2012, at the end of a story of devotion that linked them for fifteen years, Hamilton chose to leave McLaren to move to Mercedes in the following season. A leap into the void that many at the time deemed crazy given the few guarantees of success that the team could offer the English champion at that moment. The trust that Lewis placed in Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda, key figures in his decision, proved successful, and in the eight subsequent seasons, from 2013 to 2020, Hamilton won six world championships, destroying every previous record in the top series and equalling the number of titles won by Michael Schumacher. The eighth success, the last to crown Hamilton as the greatest of all time in every ranking of his sport, could have arrived as the fifth consecutive one, but 2021 marked the English driver's life indelibly.

NEW BEGINNING The 2021 season, dominated by the on-track battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, ended in Abu Dhabi with a Grand Prix decided more by officiating decisions than by sporting merits. A blemish on the conclusion of an extraordinary year that led to the dismissal of race director Michael Masi and caused the English champion the greatest disappointment of his career. A sense of injustice that made him ponder for a long time the possibility of retiring and leaving Formula 1. However, the game was not yet over for Sir Hamilton, who chose to continue racing, in pursuit of that eighth success never achieved by anyone. The next three seasons with Mercedes saw him face some of the most complex pages of his career, with a streak of missed victories that accompanied him from the end of 2021 until Silverstone 2024, where after 945 days he claimed victory in a Grand Prix in front of the ecstatic home crowd. However, winning a few races has never been enough for the boy from Stevenage, and at 40 years old, Hamilton is preparing to face the greatest challenge of his sporting life, becoming a driver for Scuderia Ferrari. A childhood dream, shared by all F1 drivers: to wear red, pass through the gates of Maranello, and drive for the Prancing Horse team. Where he has already won everything, where he wants to win more. Because age doesn’t matter when the hunger is still the same as in the early days on the track.

[Translation proof reading by @F1REAKS / X]