F1, Hamilton reveals: “I was bullied at school, they threw bananas at me”

“I was bullied in school because I was black.” Lewis Hamilton revealed it during the On Purpose podcast, published on Monday. The seven-time F1 world champion recalled: “For me, school was the most traumatizing and the hardest part of my life. I was bullied as early as the age of 6. I was only one of three black children and the older, louder, more bossy kids teased me most of the time. They were constantly hitting me, throwing things at me, like bananas, and calling me ‘nigger’ or ‘half-breed’.”

“I kept so many things to myself, I was afraid to tell my parents”

Hamilton, who was born and raised in Stevenage in south-east England, went on to add: ‘At my secondary school there were 6 or 7 black boys out of 1,200 children and 3 of us were always kicked out of the headmaster’s office. The principal took it out on us and especially on me. I felt the system was against me and I was swimming against the tide. There were a lot of things I kept inside. I didn’t feel like going home and telling my parents that these kids kept calling me black or that I was being bullied or beaten up. I didn’t want my father to think I wasn’t strong,” points out Hamilton, the only black driver so far to have won the world champion title.

He created two organizations to help diversity be inclusive

Also for this reason, the 38-year-old from Mercedes, who will unveil the car for the new season on February 15th, has created the Mission 44 foundation – which aims to improve the lives of people belonging to underrepresented groups – and the Ignite organization, a company set up with his team to improve diversity and inclusion in motor racing.

“I still don’t know what I’ll do when I stop running”

Hamilton is entering the final year of his contract with Mercedes but is expected to sign a new multi-year contract remaining in F1 beyond the age of 40. This is why he reveals that he has not yet imagined his life after racing: “When I stop racing, I already know that I will live a difficult moment. Also because I have been doing it for 30 years. Nothing can equal being on the track, participating in a race, to be at the top of the sport and earn a pole position. The emotions I feel will be missed. I know I will have a big hole, so I’m trying to focus and find things that can be just as rewarding,” he concludes.