During a talk on the “On Purpose” podcast, which was recorded in November 2022, which was published this Monday, January 23, Hamilton revealed what the traumatic events of his childhood were like. “At the age of six I was already being bullied. At that school I was one of the three black children and the older, stronger children harassed me. They constantly hit me, they threw things at me, like bananas, and the people who used the word with ‘N’ (‘nigger’, that is, ‘black’), so calm. People call you mulatto and you don’t know where you fit in. It was difficult for me,” Lewis recalled.
They were constantly hitting me, throwing things at me, like bananas, and people who used the ‘N’ word
Hamilton, is born and raised in Stevenagesouth-east England, acknowledged that his period in school was the most difficult of their life.
I felt that the system was against me and that I was swimming against the current. I suppressed many things
“For me, school was the most traumatizing and difficult part of my life. In my high school there were six or seven black children out of a total of 1,200, and three of us were locked out of the principal’s office all the time. The The director hated us, especially me. I felt that the system was against me and that I was swimming against the current. I repressed many things,” shared the F1 driver.
As part of the normal process of a child who is a victim of bullying he did not tell his parents about the abuse who suffered “I didn’t feel like going home and telling my parents that those kids kept saying the ‘n’ word to me, or that I was bullied or hit at school today, I didn’t want my dad to think I wasn’t strong. “Hamilton stressed.
hamilton so far he is the only black driver in Formula 1 And I think Mission 44whose objective is improve the lives of people from groups representedand Ignitea joint venture with your team Mercedes to improve the diversity and the inclusion in motorsport.
Nothing is going to match being on a track, being in a race
About his life after Formula 1, the Briton assured that it will be very hard to stop competing. “I’ve been doing it for 30 years. When you stop doing it, what’s going to be the same? Nothing is going to equal being on a circuit, being in a race, being at the top of this sport and being in front of the grid and that emotion that I feel about it,” he said during his talk on the podcast.
“When I retire, there will be a big void, so I’m trying to focus and find things that can replace it and that are just as rewarding,” said the Briton. Hamilton will arrive in his new Mercedes on February 15, before the first test for the 2023 season that begins on March 5 with the Bahrain Grand Prix.