Is Lewis Hamilton “built different?” We’re about to find out

LEWIS HAMILTON HAS never been one to mince his words. Outspoken belligerence has been as much a hallmark of his career as his peerless driving and loud fits. That may have been out of necessity: as the first and only Black driver in a cloistered, privileged sport, Hamilton has felt compelled to use the platform he occupies to advocate both for himself and those that might follow him. It’s part of what’s made him both an icon and something of an iconoclast.

Hamilton was in particularly good form in an interview he gave to Time magazine this week. The cover featured a stallion – a nod to Ferrari’s Prancing Horse logo – with the almost-on-the-nose headline ‘Horse Power’.

“Don’t ever compare me to anybody else. I’m the first and only Black driver that’s ever been in this sport. I’m built different. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had my own journey,” he said. “You can’t compare me to another 40-year-old, past or present, Formula One driver in history. Because they are nothing like me. I’m hungry, driven, don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning. That’s my number one priority.”

There’s a fair bit to unpack in this smouldering quote, the heat of which you can practically feel burning off your screen. For one, Hamilton’s words speak to complete and utter self-belief. That’s largely a given for an athlete of his standing, one who boasts seven F1 world drivers’ championships. They also carry a pugnaciousness born of persecution – perceived or otherwise – as well as the arrogance of ego and the defiance of exceptionalism. (Side note: I’ve interviewed Hamilton a couple of times and on each occasion he was unfailingly polite, humble and respectful, though admittedly, I was required to ask him questions so puffy they might have floated away with the breeze.)

If you didn’t know any better, you might hear Hamilton’s words and believe them to be those of a boxer before a bout, where words are bricks used to form a barricade against fear and ward off the prospect of failure. Equally, if you read Hamilton’s words again, you can perhaps hear echoes of Kobe Bryant’s infamous ‘Mamba Mentality’ – a mindset that sees the athlete cast themselves as an anti-hero in a self-constructed narrative of vengeance in a world that’s built against them – think John Wick with a steering wheel and a gearstick. For Hamilton, the first and only black driver in F1, this is perhaps a natural persona to inhabit. His words, then, rather than bluster, underscore the belief he’s built through a lifetime spent overcoming the odds.

Elsewhere in the interview, Hamilton goes on to addresses criticisms from the likes of former F1 team chief Eddie Jordan and the sport’s former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone. Jordan questioned the wisdom of Ferrari signing Hamilton, while letting Carlos Sainz go to bring him in. Ecclestone queried Hamilton’s motivation and stated he doubted the British driver would see out even two years at Ferrari. Hamilton, of course, responded in kind.

“I’ve always welcomed the negativity,” he said in the interview. “I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.” Actions speak louder than words, though, as mentioned, Hamilton’s words are usually delivered, and certainly reported, at high volume. Fortunately, he’s made a career out of backing them up.

Hamilton made a few references to his age in the Time story, the most pointed being: “The old man is a state of mind. Of course, your body ages. But I’m never going to be an old man.” It is here, perhaps, that the limits of athlete self-actualising begin to emerge, for Hamilton, whether he likes it or not, is now taking on the toughest opponent of all. Father Time looms as a roadblock for any driver, no matter how much they’ve overcome in the past or how ‘built different’ they insist they are. And of course, FT remains famously undefeated, though 40-year-old LeBron James is currently giving him all he can handle in the NBA.

Indeed, you can bet Hamilton is looking to his good friend LeBron as a source of inspiration, believing that with a similar work ethic and the same access to the latest in fitness tech and cutting-edge sports science, that he can achieve similar results himself, aged 40. He just might, too. In pre-season testing in Bahrain this week, Hamilton was quickest on the grid.

But it’s the following part of Hamilton’s molten quote that is perhaps most revealing of all: “I don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning”. If that makes it sound like Hamilton’s life is a monk-like mission in which he meditates on pole positions and chequered flags at the expense of all else, well, it’s a nice image, but patently untrue.

Few drivers, few athletes period, have had more going on outside of their sport than Hamilton, who was this week announced as a lululemon ambassador, is a Dior Men’s ambassador and has more commercial partnerships than socks in his drawers. If that weren’t enough, he’s also co-producer on upcoming Brad Pitt film, F1, and is co-chairing the Met Gala in May alongside Colman Domingo, Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, and Anna Wintour; LeBron James is honorary chair. While Hamilton obviously has a team who manage all of these – for want of a better word – distractions, he’s the one who has to show up and glad hand.

That Hamilton regards a wife and kids as a potential distraction is perhaps sad, but also telling of the level of commitment required to excel at the top level of elite sport, particularly if you’re aged 40. Most 40-year-old athletes are retired, in most cases with wives and kids (or second wives and their kids). Hamilton seems to be saying that, unencumbered by family responsibilities, he’ll be able to access the same headspace and summon the same focus as a hungry 22-year-old driver. Again though, if he wanted an example of someone who is succeeding despite family responsibilities, he need look no further than LeBron.

So, where does all this leave us? Well, if Hamilton does help the Scuderia reclaim the championship for the first time since 2007, it will likely be the biggest sports story of the year – not to mention a triumph for unmarried 40-year-olds with no kids everywhere. It will also cement Hamilton’s legacy as arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time, at least until Max Verstappen overtakes him. And it will prove something Hamilton has believed since he first began racing go-karts as an eight-year-old: he is, indeed, built different.

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