When Lewis Hamilton described how the bestseller "Four Agreements" helped him tackle criticism in F1

One of the most popular sportsmen in the world, Lewis Hamilton, is renowned for his exceptional skills, which have cemented his legacy in the annals of Formula 1. However, despite a stellar career full of achievements, he has copped a fair amount of criticism over the years.

Being such a public figure comes with the caveat of people questioning his every move, on and off the track. As such, the discourse around the seven-time world champion wasn't the best during his dominance from 2014–2020, when he won six championships in seven years.

Hamilton, though, has a way of dealing with all the negative things that are said about him. In an interview from the past, the Mercedes driver, said that he did not take the criticism thrown his way personally, as it did not concern him.

As per the Economic Times, during the 2019 Hungarian GP, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the influence of Don Miguel Ruiz's bestseller self-help book, Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, and how it helped him tackle the world of harsh criticism. He said:

“There's an element in there (Four Agreements) where it says don't take anything personally, so when someone says something about you, it's not actually about you, it's how they feel about themselves.

“Naturally there will be people that have not had the success that I've had, and might want to talk it down, but that's OK. All you have to do is look at the tally of my results over the years, and they kind of speak for themselves."

The book is based on ancient Toltec wisdom, which focuses on the self-limiting beliefs of humans and provides a counter to issues relating to self-doubt, etc.

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Lewis Hamilton shares his thoughts on racing in a Black Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton recently stated that while he hadn't driven a black car in some time, he will not be pushing for Ferrari to change their iconic Scarlet red next year. As per PlanetF1, the British driver also mentioned that he and Ferrari CEO John Elkann had spoken about issues close to Hamilton's heart, saying:

“I haven’t driven a black car for a while, so I probably won’t be pushing for that too early on, but no. We’ve definitely spoken about impact work and John and the team have a lot of philanthropy work that they do, so we’ll be working very closely with Mission 44 and with the impact stuff that they’re doing."

The Mercedes driver added:

“I think within the sport, we have to continue to do more, but more outside, we’ll be doing quite a bit together, so that’s really exciting.”

Lewis Hamilton has been the driving force behind pushing for diversity and equality in the sport ever since his debut in 2007. However, since the middle of the 2020 season, he has taken the issues into overdrive.

On several occasions, he has spoken about leaving a lasting legacy in the sport that went beyond his on-track achievements and skills behind the wheel, as he was more interested in making Formula 1 more diverse in the future.