When Lewis Hamilton broke his silence on the obstacles he faced while trying to reach F1

Lewis Hamilton once talked about various difficulties he faced while climbing the motorsport ladder. He talked about financial, mental, and racial struggles in his life.

Hamilton is now a renowned racing driver in the world with seven world championships and over a hundred race wins under his belt. However, he has often touched on how difficult it was for him to reach F1. The kid from Stevenage started karting at the age of six and quickly attracted McLaren's former boss, Ron Dennis's attention. However, his road to F1 was not the smoothest even after being recognized.

In a GQ Sports YouTube video in April 2024, Lewis Hamilton answered several fan questions on various social media platforms. One fan asked about the obstacles that the seven-time world champion faced during his foster years.

To this, Hamilton explained that finance was one of the major issues that he faced. Anthony Hamilton, Lewis' father, worked several jobs to sustain his son's racing career for a while. The British driver stated that getting good sponsors on his side was an integral part of his career.

"Obstacles were funding. Finding sponsorship and support was key to me getting to where I am today," Hamilton said at 2:23.

He then talked about the racial injustice that he faced in motorsport, which according to him, was 'white-dominated'. Lewis Hamilton was the first person of color to race in F1 back when he joined McLaren in 2007.

"Not really fitting in a sport which was white-dominated and wasn't an area that was diverse. We were the only Black family on the scene. So experienced a lot of racism, a lot of pushback. And so just trying to fit in and struggling with that acceptance was a big, big obstacle to overcome," the Mercedes star went on.

Finally, the seven-time world champion mentioned the internal obstacles that he faced in the form of mental instability. He explained how he always wanted to win, something which was not possible in a sport. He talked about how he strengthened his mental health over the years.

"Failure. In my sport you are constantly faced with challenges. You can't always win, naturally. The natural highs you get are amazing and then you have these lows. The challenge of the mental side, mental stability, mental health has been a huge part of my whole journey," he concluded.

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Lewis Hamilton's illustrious journey after joining F1

Though Lewis Hamilton struggled to reach Formula 1, his talent was unleashed once he entered the sport. The Brit joined McLaren in the 2007 F1 season and instantly started bagging podium places in his debut season itself. He finished second in the drivers' standings with 109 points, just one point behind Kimi Raikkonen.

In the 2008 F1 season, he won his first world championship. Fast forward to 2013, and Hamilton decided to move on from McLaren and join Mercedes. At the time, it was quite a shocking move since the Silver Arrows were struggling to find pace.

However, the move was written in the stars as Hamilton and Mercedes created their empire during the hybrid era and dominated the sport for years. Lewis Hamilton won six of his seven world championships with Mercedes and helped the team win constructors' titles from 2014 to 2020.

His streak of titles was broken in 2021 when he fiercely fought with Red Bull's Max Verstappen. After that year, the British driver has not been able to win any championship.

Before the 2024 F1 season started, it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would finally leave Mercedes and join Ferrari in 2025. The 2024 season was the worst in his entire F1 career in terms of championship standings since he finished eighth.