Happy Birthday Lewis Hamilton - GPBlog look back on his career to date
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton turns 35 today and will celebrate knowing that he is one of the best drivers of his generation. The Mercedes driver won his sixth drivers championship last season and is still in the best form of his life. At the age of 35, he is now in the final years of his career and will be motivated to push on for more success.
Although 35 may seem old for a Formula 1 driver these days, Kimi Raikkonen is still racing at the age of 40 and it seems likely that Hamilton will continue winning for as long as he wants to remain in the sport.
He is only one championship win away from equalling Michael Schumacher's all-time record and that will be a target for the British driver.
F1 debut
Lewis Hamilton didn't come from a rich family. His father worked a number of jobs so they could afford to go racing on the weekends. However, with a second-hand go-kart, Hamilton impressed and was quickly picked up by McLaren who signed him and after impressing in all the junior formulas, he made his Formula 1 debut in 2007.
Hamilton joined McLaren who were one of the top teams at the time. Fernando Alonso was in the other car and few would have expected the youngster to challenge his world champions teammate the way Hamilton did. However, tensions at the team and circumstances surrounding 'Spygate' meant that Kimi Raikkonen won the championship.
2008 was Hamilton's year and everyone knows how he picked up his first championship win, with the famous commentary of the final corner of the final race which was so important.
Mercedes
Everyone thought Hamilton was mad when he made the move to Mercedes in 2012. They were a fairly unknown team who had no real success. Many thought that Hamilton should have gone to Ferrari or Red Bull Racing who both had results and history in the sport. However, Hamilton's gamble paid off.
Mercedes adapted to the 2014 rule changes the best and have dominated ever since. The Hybrid era of Formula 1 has seen only Mercedes win each year and whoever managed to persuade Hamilton that this was going to happen back in 2012 deserves a medal.
Hamilton has won five world championships with the team and things are still looking good for the future!
The future
Hamilton has six drivers championships to his name and will want to equal Schumacher's seven before he even thinks about retiring. Hamilton is driving at his best and nobody has been able to compete with him for a number of years.
Some think that if Hamilton wins again next season then we could see him drive for Ferrari in his final years in the sport, but we will have to see. Perhaps he will still be winning for Mercedes for another 10 years!