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- Anything with an engine.

I really enjoy doing.

Hopefully I'll be
racing Formula One.

- When you get in
that Formula One car,

everything just disappears

and it's the most
amazing thing ever.

- Well, my mindset's the
same as it is every year.

I want to win.

- Lewis Hamilton is one of
the greatest sportsmen ever,

not just for Great
Britain, his home country,

but also the world.

- All those years ago,

we were all siting in
the back of a trailer

in a little cavalier
and everything,

we can never have
imagined being here.

For me, growing up,

having people you see on TV

that could put a big
smile on your face,

for me, I've never
really imagined

that I'd be able to
do that to young kids.

- He, naturally, has
an aura about him.

Champions do.

- There's certain days,

when watching a driver
transcending their machinery

and performing to a level
that you weren't expecting,

that's kind of like art,

that's beyond just watching
a sporting spectacle,

and Lewis is one of
the very few drivers

who has done that
in their career.

- He's not just
about motor racing.

He's about fashion,
he's about music,

he's about political activism,

he's about veganism.

- Yes, I've won
this seventh title,

but we have another
big, big fight to win

and that's for racial
equality across the board.

[soft music]

- In Britain,

we've always had a strong
motorsport heritage.

We've had so many Formula
One teams based here,

we've got what was called
"Motorsport Valley,"

where so much racing
skill, and technology,

and expertise has
come out of there.

So most of the Formula One
teams currently are based

here in the UK,

and that means you've
just always got

that interest, that influence,

whether it's engineers,

it's mechanics, or it's drivers.

And that meant we were ahead of

many other places in the
world in terms of having

a conveyor belt of
talent coming through.

- Circuit racing
and hill climb was

really embraced by Britain.

There were enough people
who were mad enough

to go out and buy
their own cars.

And maybe it's the
fact that we still had

quite an upper class at the time

and there were enough people

with enough disposable income

to be able to be the third son

of a rich family and
go and kill yourself

on a motor track,

but it somehow seemed to appeal,

and the motor industry
grew up around it

because there was so much
enthusiasm to get faster cars.

- It's always hard to
compare across areas,

it sounds like a cop-out answer,

but Formula One has changed
so much with technology,

but what Lewis has done
transcends a number

of different eras and
technical regulations.

He's won every season he's raced

and he's done it
all while fighting

for causes off-track as well,

that kind of means he
transcends the sport.

You can talk about
someone like Jim Clark,

who lost his life too young

to maybe hit some of the records

that Lewis has been able to,

and he's spoken about,
by some older journalists

and an older viewers and fans,

as the greatest
British driver ever.

But I think the way
that Lewis has continued

to be successful year-after-year

in different eras
himself is what puts him

above everybody else,

and the statistics
back it up too.

- You can look back
to the early days,

and Jackie Stewart,
and to Jim Clark,

and to some of the more lionized
drivers, like James Hunt,

who, of course, there's huge
amount of affection for.

- I think what someone

like James Hunt did
was put Formula One

more in the public
eye, public conscience,

for a wider range of people

who, maybe, then saw what
you did off the track

as much as they saw
what he did on it.

And Lewis has done
something similar,

but maybe for different
ethnic groups.

The fact that he's the first
black Formula One driver

just opened up this huge
other number of people

who might be interested
in the sport,

who might look at
him as a role model.

And whether they do or
don't like Formula One,

they just see someone
who's being successful

in a field that previously
someone hadn't been.

- He's someone who can engage

the worlds of fashion and
of sport outside of F1,

which motorsport tends to keep
itself very, very separated.

Formula One is 70 years old,

which, in human terms, is
a couple of generations.

In racing terms,

Formula One is all
about its own heritage,

it's all about its own pedigree,

because it talks about
the heritage of the cars

that came up through it,

but a lot of what
he's talking about is

its basis in a particular class,

in a particular type of people.

You see in every
era of Formula One,

the same names.

There is just a huge amount
of people following on

in the family footsteps,

and there's not very many people

who necessarily see
a problem with that,

in terms of that
excluding other people.

So it's very unusual
to see people come in

from a background that
is totally disconnected

from Formula One.

- Going really fast.

Anything with an engine,
I really enjoy doing.

Hopefully, I'll be racing
Formula One for McLaren.

- He started off with
a remote control car,

which is a very
unusual route in.

- He used to race that
at a very high level

and he showed that
he was very skilled,

controlling something like that.

- Lewis Hamilton is
only seven years old.

How long have you been
racing cars already, Lewis?

- About a year.

- So you must be
pretty good at it.

Is it easy to do?
- No.

- What you have to do then?

- This is the brake.
- That's the brake.

You need the break.

- And these are
the turn steering.

- So then his dad said,

"Okay, well, what
about the real thing,

"if you're behind the wheel
rather than behind a control?"

So he went into karts,

again, at a young age.

Six or seven, he was
given his first go-kart

and could go and try that out,

and he just had this
affinity and love for speed.

And it was a bit of
an expression for him

to go out and enjoy himself.

- Ever since I got into karting,

there was always a danger there.

And I think it was that,

I guess you could call it,

the fear factor
or whatever it is,

just knowing knowing
that you have

that danger there is exciting.

Some people don't like
it, some people do,

and that's something
that spurs me on.

- It's a huge ask
in terms of time

and the money is
just staggering.

You are still talking
about more than a house,

and that's just to
get to single seaters.

- Motorsport's an expensive
sport at the best of times,

but even from karting level,

you need a lot of
money to be able

to go racing each week.

And in order to help
fund Louis' career,

his father, Anthony, was
working multiple jobs.

He was working full time

but then on top of that,

he did little odd jobs

just to bring in extra money

to buy things like a trailer
to put the go-kart in,

to buy things like spare
tires to go racing again.

They never really had the
best equipment early on,

until they got bigger support.

- Having those strong
family bonds, of course,

is going to be super
important to you,

especially when you're going

through something where you're
the only thing like you.

- Lewis' father,
Anthony, was always there

to help guide him through,

certainly in the early
part of his career.

He was his mechanic
when he was in karts,

but then he became his manager

as they went through the ranks

and was very influential
in trying to see

which way Lewis went.

- His father was
a driving force,

but also it comes from
within himself as well.

Here's someone who freely admits

he's very competitive,

but it's also the
mind management,

the mental strength to make sure

that you maximize your talent.

- We all clash with our parents,

and definitely when
it's a combination

of your own ambition and theirs,

things can get very heated.

But Anthony was
someone who was able

to find ways into the world.

He found Jenson
Button's dad and got him

to help him with tooling karts.

He found ways to connect to
people within motorsport,

even though it
wasn't a background

he knew much about.

It's really very, very
wealthy people who compete.

- And they can spend
huge sums of money

on having the best equipment,

the best kart,

even the best motor
home to sit in

in-between races,

whereas Lewis would have
been the complete opposite.

I think for any young
racing driver in karting,

they're going to look at

who has the money and going
to be a bit jealous of it.

Not just because
it would be nice

to sit in a nice motor
home in between races,

but because that equipment

that you're racing can have
a huge, huge influence.

You can be the best driver ever,

but if your kart is down
a little bit on power,

then someone else is going to

just blast past you
on the straights,

and that will frustrate
someone like Lewis

or anyone else who
didn't have the money

at that time.

And it drives them
on a little bit

to try that bit harder

and prove that
they're good enough

and worthy of having
the same equipment

- Lewis' journey is remarkable.

You talk to him, you
talk to his father,

you talk to his brother,

about how they were
regarded with disdain,

with contempt,

with open racist attitudes.

They would turn up in their car

and wait in the car park,

and there would be
these steely glares,

these looks of disdain,

as they were there.

It's an almost puzzlement,

"Why are you here?

"Who are you?

"What are you doing?

"This isn't your...

"This isn't your sport, really.

"We don't see black people
doing motorsport like this."

- He was astronomically
successful.

He didn't get up the
karting ladder by accident,

he got up it because he
was noticeably better

than almost anyone else.

- When Lewis was
coming up through

the karting ranks,

there was this young karter
called Niki Richardson

who was a year above him,

who was the standout
talent at that time,

and they'd be karting at
Rye House Go-kart Track.

And Lewis' father, Anthony,

would go and stand where
Nikki was braking and say,

"This is where you need
to hit the brakes."

Of course, to try
and improve, Lewis,

he'd probably go a
little bit further,

a little bit closer
to that corner

and say, "You find some more
time if you brake even later."

And it wasn't always the
most successful technique.

Lewis did that end
up in the barriers

quite a few times,
trying to get it right,

but it meant he was
trying to make sure

he got absolutely everything
out of the machinery he had

by looking at what
the best was doing,

just ahead of him.

- The sport is littered
with young drivers

who showed huge potential
in Junior Formulae

and then just fell away
for whatever reason.

Lewis Hamilton never faltered.

- Lewis was having a solid start

to his life in go-karts,

but he hadn't achieved
anything huge until '95

when he won a
British championship.

And by winning
that championship,

he got to go to the
Auto Sports Awards,

where the champions
were recognized.

And while he was there,

he took the opportunity,
as a youngster,

to go up to Ron Dennis,

who was the CEO and chairman
of the McLaren Group,

who had the McLaren
Formula One team,

and say, "One day, I want
to drive one of your cars."

So Ron gave him his signature,

as Lewis had asked
for, but said,

"Call me in," I
think, "nine years

"and see if we
can do something."

And it didn't take
that long before Ron

actually was speaking to Lewis

about a future in Formula One

- What an opportunity he
gave me, at 13 years old,

to make my way to Formula One.

And it's such an
amazing story to see

that 10 years of hard grafting

with the support
of a huge company

and what you can do with it.

- So I won't keep
you waiting too much,

[indistinct] Ron's probably
gonna get up here or...

I don't know.

Are you gonna come up here, Ron?

No?

- Ron Dennis is
hugely influential

in the Lewis Hamilton story

because he had the power.

- For any driver that
wants to reach Formula One,

you need to have huge backing.

Be that through a sponsor,

if it's family money,
great if you've got it,

or through a Formula
One team that wants

to help you get there.

And without McLaren's support

and Ron Dennis' support,

then Lewis would have struggled

if no one else had stepped
up and filled that role.

So McLaren were
very, very central

to him making it to Formula One.

- After a certain point,
it is simply impossible,

unless you are very rich,

to fund a career as
a private individual.

So when you get to
the stage of moving up

to the junior series,

then you're dependent on the
team keeping hold of you.

A lot of his appeal to
McLaren was being British,

because they were always
particularly interested

in picking up British talent.

There hadn't been a huge
field of it for a while.

- I've come here to enjoy
and to live my dream,

and that's what I'm doing.

- Lewis was picked
up by McLaren in '98,

but then he went through a
few more stages of karting

before he made it into cars.

And he joined Formula
Renault in the early 2000s,

and had one season
where he had a few wins

but wasn't consistent enough

to win the title,

and then went to dominate
it in the second year.

And that's really
when he stood out,

that he was going
to be able to win,

not just in go-karts,

but in cars as well.

- It's a big step up.

There's a lot more eyes on you,

there's a lot more attention.

Suddenly, the talent scouts
and the managers are looking

and people are also
looking to see you fail.

- Any driver that
might look good

in a go-kart has no guarantee

that they're gonna be good
in an actual racing car

because the move into
Formula Renault cars is

the first time you then
have wings on the car

that create downforce,

so it's a totally
different style of driving.

You're kind of driving a go-kart

a lot with the steering,

but lot with the
throttle as well

to get the rear
end moving around.

With a Formula Renault,

or a similar single seater car,

that downforce produced
by the wings means

that you drive it
totally differently.

So Lewis being successful
in that category was

a really good sign.

Then, as you move up to
something like Formula Three,

there's more power
and more downforce.

So it's just the whole
performance overall is improved.

The same with GP2.

And there's no power
steering in some of these,

so physically it
gets tough as well.

And then once you
reach Formula One,

the levels are so high.

There's power steering
because there has to be,

otherwise you won't be able
to physically control the car

with the amount of
downforce it has

and the power it has.

But it's all about the
speeds being higher

in terms of straight
line and cornering.

- A lot of people
look at it as like...

They'll be like, "Oh, they're
just driving in circles.

"It's just driving a car.

"What's physical about that?

"What's athletic about that?"

I mean, aside from the fact

that it's unbearably hot,

it's like sitting in a sauna,

and that's the cooler races

before you start
going to somewhere

like Bahrain or the Singapore.

There's reflexes that have
to be so, so, so fast.

You also have to
do lots and lots

of micro-adjustments
across the steering wheel.

You'll see them constantly
moving their hands,

and that has to be accurate

and it has to be
perfectly learned,

which might not sound
like an athletic thing

but realistically, it is.

It's like the same
skill that you have

to develop to be able to be

a really good guitar
player or something.

On top of all that,

every time you go into a corner,

every time your brake,

it's going to put so much stress

on your neck and your shoulders,

that it's going to
be basically trying

to tear your head off.

The G-forces that
they're pulling

around the corner are
like four or five G

just on their neck,

which makes your
head and the helmet,

which is pretty heavy if
you've ever put one on,

weigh four or five times
what it normally would.

And then, as you go
around the corner itself,

the downforce threatens
to disembowel you,

and you've gotta,
at the same time,

brake and accelerate perfectly,

and make all those
micro-adjustments perfectly,

and be completely sure

that you know what you're doing

because you are
actually looking at

that point three corners ahead.

Lewis' GP2 year
was extraordinary.

It's very rare that you see
someone hammer the field

in terms of just looking like

they must be from
another category,

and have been
accidentally placed there,

let alone as a rookie.

- The absolute standout
moment of Lewis' time

in GP2 came in Turkey.

And it was the second
race of the weekend there,

when he was in a really
tight championship fight

with Nelson Piquet Jr.,

who's someone who
had a lot of backing,

had a famous name behind him,

and looked like he was
destined for Formula One.

But Lewis was trying
to prove to McLaren

that he was also
worthy of that seat

because it came at a time
when McLaren were working out

who was going to
partner Fernando Alonso

in the team the following year.

And he went into this
second race in Turkey

and Lewis spun, very early on,

and dropped to the
back of the field.

- [Announcer] Taking a look
at what happened to Hamilton.

Just loses it over the curb.

- Nelson Piquet Jr.
was up at the front

and it looked like it was
all slipping away from him.

And he produced a
brilliant fightback drive

to finish second,

overtook Piquet in the process,

and that really made everyone
sit up and take notice

that this guy was special.

- [Announcer] Still 21 laps for

a classic Hamilton fight
back through the field.

Hamilton's on fire here.

Look at him, he's
overtaking car after car.

He's going to try something.

You knows he's going
to try something.

And here we go!

Down the inside of Lopez,

he's up to eighth now

and flying!

Can he let him through?

Hamilton is through,
into third place

and Glock is going
to have to give away!

Is Hamil...

Oh, he is going to try!

And for second place,

that was an absolutely
spellbinding performance

by Lewis Hamilton.

- In a sense, you could
think he was driving angry

because he'd made a mistake
earlier on and spun,

but they're in spec cars.

GP2 is the same
car for everybody.

There's different
ways you can set it up

but they've got
the same machinery,

so it's driver talent that's
going to shine through,

and what he showed was that

he had so much more talent
on that day, in that car,

than anybody else in the field.

That he could climb through

and overtake so many others.

Showed brilliant racecraft,

Showed a cool head
after his early mistake,

and he got the
absolute best result

he could have after
slipping back.

- [Interviewer] Lewis, a
year ago, you were racing

at Silverstone in Formula Two.

Now, you're a favorite to
win your home Grand Prix.

I mean, this is beyond dreaming,

isn't it?
- It is, it is.

And I'm just overwhelmed
to even be in Formula One

and to be in the team that

I've always dreamed
of being with.

But to come to my
home Grand Prix,

leading the world
championship in my first year,

this is way beyond anything
I could have ever imagined

or way beyond my ambitions.

But I'm not going
to be disappointed

if I don't win the championship,

I was just hoping
to do a good job.

So I'm sure if I just continue
doing the job I am doing,

then we'll have to wait and see

what happens at the end.

- They all thought, "Well,
Hamilton's going to come in

"as a rookie,

"he's not going
to do very well.."

Actually he usurped
and over-performed
against his teammate.

This was a two-time
world champion

just come out of driving
for Renault, 2005, 2006.

The man who had taken over
from Michael Schumacher,

the great Spaniard,

the man who was going
to dominate Formula One

for the next few years.

And yet, who should
have won the title

when they went head-to-head

in the same machinery?

Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

- Something Ferrari, who
were McLaren's main rival,

have always done
very well is pick

a number one driver;

a driver that they put
the most resource behind,

that they get the other driver

to help and make
sure that they get

the most points possible to
win the driver's championship.

What McLaren didn't do
in 2007, it's the same.

They let both
drivers fight it out.

- Alonso was in no way ready

for how fast Hamilton was,

and it had seemed
clear when Alonso went

to McLaren that year,

that he was taking
the championship

with rookie support,

which turned into
really, really ugly games

between the pair of them.

- So that meant there was
tension early on anyway,

and as the season progressed

and Hamilton performed well,

and was in the
drivers championship,

Alonso got more and more
frustrated with that,

which meant Hamilton
also fought back

because Alonzo was
giving him a hard time.

And when it came to Hungary,

there was a point in qualifying

where Hamilton
disobeyed a team order

that would have helped Alonso.

It would have only been fair,

it's the way the
team wanted to run,

but Hamilton disobeyed the order

to try and improve
his own position.

And then, Alonso took matters

into his own hands when they
both came into the pitch

to change tires before their
final qualifying attempt.

And when Alonso was told
to leave the pit lane,

he didn't.

He waited because he knew
it would hold Hamilton up.

I mean, Hamilton couldn't go out

and try and qualify.

It actually earned
along to a penalty,

but it just showed that
the relationship was

really falling apart
within the team.

- And usually, it
would be you trying

to block a rival team,

not your teammate.

- And in the end, they
finished level on points,

and one point behind
the eventual champion,

who was Kimi Raäikkoönen.

But if just one driver
had had priority

at a different race,

they'd scored the extra points

they needed to win
the championship.

So what you need is
the teams backing

a little bit as well

when it comes down to
such a tight fight.

Lewis showed
brilliant consistency

in his rookie season
in Formula One.

He was on the podium or winning

for a number of races
from the word go.

He finally got his
first win in Canada,

but he backed up,
again, with another one

in the United States,

and he was leading
the championship with
two rounds to go.

And it had definitely
been his consistency

that had got him there.

He'd had one race
when he finished

outside the points because
of a crash in Germany.

But apart from that,

he'd always been scoring highly.

All Hamilton had to do at
the Chinese Grand Prix,

which was the penultimate
race of the season,

was finish close to his
teammate, Fernando Alonso,

and not be beaten by
more than six points

by Kimi Raäikkoönen,

who was the rank
outsider at this stage.

Raäikkoönen wasn't the driver
they were worried about.

It was the inter-team battle

between Alonso and Hamilton.

So he was just
having to make sure

that he was either
close to or beat Alonso,

and he'd be world champion
with a race to spare.

- [Announcer] As long as
Alonso finishes behind him,

he's still going to
be the world champion.

- Lewis put the car on poll,

did a great job in qualifying,

and was leading the first
part of the race in the wet,

and everything looked perfect,

like he was going to
win the championship.

- [Announcer] A picture
then of Hamilton,

who just looks...

I don't know if its a
piece of paper stuck

in his right rear,

or if its down to the canvas.

Hamilton getting very, very wide

in turns one and two.

- But then, McLaren kept him out

as a track was drying,

and his tires started
to get worn out.

And he went off at one point,

and Kimi Raäikkoönen overtook him,

but that still wasn't a problem,

where Raäikkoönen him
was going to finish.

If Raäikkoönen won and
Hamilton was second,

Hamilton would still
be world champion.

- [Announcer] He's
gotta come in.

I think he's got a...

I think he's got
some delamination

on that right rear tire.

- But then McLaren kept
them out longer and longer,

until they finally
brought him in

for his pit stop to
put on dry tires.

And by then, his wets
were so worn out,

they had no grip at all,

and he just went off the
track coming into the pit lane

and couldn't get going again,

so he retired from the position

that would have
given him the title.

- [Announcer] Turned
into the picture.

Anyway, here comes
Lewis Hamilton!

He goes straight off

into a gravel check.

Can he keep the wheels spinning?

Can he get some momentum going?

No, he can't!

It's all going to
get away from him.

- Lewis would have been the
first rookie world champion

and it looked right
within his hands.

- There is nothing, as a driver,

that you can do to take away

the curse that sometimes
comes to a car.

- Hamilton matched the
record for the most wins

in a rookie season with four,

I think Jacques Villeneuve
is the other driver

that has that one.

But he also had the most
consecutive podium finishes

from the first
race of any rookie.

And at the end of it,

he had the highest points total

that any rookie would have had.

Sadly, it just wasn't the
championship winning one.

- It was a great year.

I couldn't really have asked
for more, if I'm honest.

Just because...

I went into the last
race and I just said,

"Whatever happens in this race,

"I'll be happy
because I've, by far,

"exceeded my expectations
and everyone else's."

And I think I've put
my feet comfortably

into Formula One,

everyone knows who I am.

And I'm only 22, so
I've got plenty of time.

And as you know,

I've got the ability and I know,

so just with a little
bit more hard work,

we'll be able to do it.

To come from the box trailer,

to now sitting in Formula One,

and to have people noticing me

and to have my name all
over Santander shops,

it's just really weird.

We just sat there and
went, "What a year.

"Can you believe it this year?

"This time, last year,

"all those years ago,

"we were all sitting in
the back of a trailer,

"in a little cavalier
and everything."

We couldn't ever have imagined
being in here in this year,

so you cannot complain.

Even if I finished last,

the fact that I
was able to compete

in Formula One World
Championship is just...

Not many people get to do that,

so just pretty grateful.

Me and Fernando, we get on well,

and we try to tell people that

but they just didn't believe it.

They like to write
their own things.

The media, it was just trying
to put spins on everything,

which is a bit of
a shame, really

because they don't
really give you

a true feeling of
what's going on.

And obviously, there was loads

of different things
sparking about,

but the aim was to
beat him, I did.

Beat a two-time world champion.

I mean, to do that
in your first year,

I didn't expect that for sure.

But I get on really
well with him,

so I think for next year,

we know what to expect.

And if we are working together,

I'm sure we'll do a better job.

- After such an
impressive rookie season,

the expectations were so
high on Hamilton in 2008.

McLaren were a
race-winning team,

should have been a
championship winning team.

Fernando Alonso had left,

he'd gone back to Renault
because of the way

the relationship had
broken down completely,

McLaren allowed him to leave.

So Hamilton looked like he was
going to be the lead driver,

and he clearly had the potential

to lead that team for
a number of years.

So the future was
looking very bright

for both him and the team,

and with a car that was capable
of winning the championship.

I think Lewis probably
went into that season

as the title favorite.

- You'll notice lot of drivers
who are successful tend

to stick with the same teams.

There's very rarely drivers

who fall out with their teams
or move around very much,

particularly in the modern era

because it is so,
so complicated.

- There is a lot of pressure.

I'm only 23.

I'm still very young.

It's my second
year in Formula One

and I've got a team of
800-1,000 people behind me,

making sure that my car is

the quickest one out there,

and I've got to go out
there and do the job.

And so, there is
a lot of pressure,

but I think I've been
building up to it for years,

so I do feel there's more
pressure coming from myself

than actually outside.

I have to pinch myself
near enough every day,

especially when
I'm at the races,

because I'm in the garage

and I've got all these
people working around,

and working for me,

making sure my car's there.

And I'm thinking,

"I remember being
there as a teenager,

"watching Kimi driving,

"or watching Mika drive,

"and watching David
Coulthard drive."

And it's very surreal
that I'm there now,

and I'm the man for them.

The great thing is I've got

a great relationship
with the team,

so it's very much a
family environment for me.

And I thoroughly...

I'm McLaren through and through,

McLaren-Mercedes
through and through.

I'm a lot wiser now
than I was last year.

I think last year,
I felt perhaps...

If I look back,

I feel like I was
a kid last year.

Not really knowing
what to expect.

This year, I'm managing
my life a lot better,

but I've learned so
much about the car

and about rising
above the difficulties

you come across.

And I think that's the key.

I've always said,
"Rise above it" is one

of my favorite quotes.

I mean, I had my first
season of Formula One

and I came second by one point

to Kimi Raäikkoönen,

who's been racing for six or
seven years in Formula One.

And I beat the world champion,

the two time world champion.

So if you look, you got to
take the positives from it

and move on.

It was a great season,

way better than
anyone ever expected.

And I'm now in my second season,

I've got a much better
feel for who I am

and what I've got to do,

and my confidence
is higher than ever.

So it's still going
to be very tough,

every year is going to be tough,

but I feel I can do a
better job this year.

- The standout highlight
for 2008 has to be

the season finale.

Brazil was full of such
drama and jeopardy,

and it all came down
to the final corner

on the final lap
of the final race

to find out who was
the world champion,

and the contrasting
emotions were huge.

One of the things that
Hamilton would have learned

from 2008 is just the fact

that you only need to get
the result that matters.

There was a point in 2007,

again, in Brazil,

where he didn't
need to win the race

to win the championship,

like it had been in China
when he slid off the road.

All he needed was
a lesser result,

compared to what other
drivers needed to do.

But Hamilton's style early on,

and a bit McLaren
supporting him too,

was to go all out
for the best result,

go for the win.

That's the best
way to wrap it up.

And as he's matured,

he's kind of learned
that doesn't matter.

There's some days
where second, third,

fourth, even fifth,

is the best you can do,

but that might be all you need

when you add it all together

at the end of the season.

At the time that Felipe
Massa crossed the line

to win the race,

at his home race,

it looked like he
was world champion.

He was in a position that
would give him the title

and Lewis Hamilton
was in a position

that meant he wasn't going
to win the championship,

but Hamilton then
gained one place

at the final corner,

overtook Timo Glock,

who was struggling in the rain,

and came through
to get the position

he needed to take
the championship.

To have two drivers,
technically, be world champion

within a matter of seconds,

for everything to
have come down,

after such a long season,

to that final corner,

I just don't think you
can beat drama like that.

- What we try to do is we
try to remain dignified

and set an example,
I suppose, for others

who wants to follow the sport,

'cause not everybody that
follows Formula One wants

to be in Formula One.

Maybe they're just looking
for inspirational figures,

people who have struggled hard

to make it to the
pinnacle of their sport

and set an example,

and we want to set an example.

[audience applauding]

- A sensational year.

I mean, for me, to win a
world championship, for one,

is, as I've always said,
as a dream of mine.

[crowd cheering]

It's pretty awesome for
me to be standing here,

seeing all these trophies

and my heart's still racing.

I haven't really...

It hasn't really hit home yet.

And it's quite unreal, really,

because you think
about the whole story

of me meeting Ron when I was 10,

I mean, the first time I came

to McLaren, the
old headquarters,

the first time I saw
my Formula One car,

my first test,

the opportunity I had back
at Silverstone in 2006,

and just the whole
journey we've done.

And I just wanna...

I'm standing here today to say

a big thank you to all of you,

and we have proved to everyone
that we are the best team,

the car is the most reliable.

And we've just been put under

so much pressure by whoever;

the fans, the media,

just the championship in itself,

and we've always had to
become bigger and better,

and we've done that as a team.

We stuck together.

We've lost together
and we've won together,

and a really big one this week.

We are the world
champions and...

[indistinct]

- I'm here now

and I've set the tone.

Everyone knows what I can do.

So staying here, it doesn't
seem to be such a problem

but I still have to
keep on performing.

I still need to be fit.

So over the years,

as I get older and older,

I need to keep working
harder and harder

to make sure I'm still on top.

But there's definitely no...

There was no point [mumbles]

"I'm here now, I can relax."

It's not the case.

I've got to keep on pushing

because everyone's
doing the same thing.

- Although the decline would not

completely hit for
a few more years,

they were going into a
phase where, operationally,

they were having
significant problems.

The effects of the
2007 scandal were

really beginning to bite
in a major, major way.

So the 2009 car had
not had the investment

that would have been
put into it over 2008.

And then, that rolled into 2010.

- [Announcer] The reigning
Formula One world champion,

Lewis Hamilton.

- The thing that you have to
say is impressive is Lewis won

a race in every single year,

even in cars that absolutely
were not race winners.

- [Announcer] The 2009
Formula One challenger

the Vodafone McLaren
Mercedes MP4-24.

- [Interviewer] Lewis,
you've now seen a car

with your name on it

and the number one on the front.

How did it feel when
you first saw that?

- It feels great.

It's a very proud moment.

And it's just gonna be
cool having number one

on a car for whole season.

It's the best.

- [Interviewer] People
have suggested that

new regulations make
these cars a bit ugly.

What do you think?

- Well, regardless
if I thought that,

I can't say that.

- The thing about new
regulations is that

they will almost always
shake up the field.

- The problem McLaren had with
this regulation change was

they're in such a tight
championship battle in 2008,

that they kept developing
their 2008 car.

They kept putting a
resource behind that

to make sure they won
that championship.

Partly, I think, because
they'd missed out in 2007,

they weren't willing to let

it get away from them again,

but that meant other teams

that weren't in the battle spent
more time and money earlier

on the new regulations

and were able to get
a jump on McLaren.

And it meant McLaren and Ferrari

both started the season
away from the pace.

For Hamilton, it was a
bit of a weird situation

because the car was clearly
not competitive enough

for him to win the championship,

and that's frustrating
for driver.

To be the world champion,

to be on an upward trajectory,

and certainly as
someone who's young

and as highly rated as Lewis,

but then not have the
machinery to perform.

And all he'd ever known

in Formula One was
having race winning cars.

So he had to completely adapt

his mindset, his approach,

what constitutes a
good result in a race.

And that was a bit
tough for him to do too

at an early age.

So a bit of a
combination of the fact

that the car wasn't competitive

and Hamilton was still
relatively inexperienced,

even for a world champion,

just meant it was a
tough season for him.

- There is no driver
who is happy not to win.

- They got to a
point in Lewis' mind

where he felt he needed to
break away from his father,

that this relationship on a
personal level was being hurt

by the fact that they still had

this professional one,

when you're in Formula One

at the top of the sport,

it was so intense.

So he felt that
it's better for them

to go their separate ways,

and I think that really
hurt Anthony at the time,

because, obviously,
your son saying to you,

"I don't need you anymore
in this capacity,"

or "I don't want you in
this capacity anymore,"

sounds really painful to hear,

but it was done with
a long-term view

that it would actually help them

with their personal
relationship.

And it did make
things a bit rough

for Lewis for a while.

He used to take things in
his personal life very hard

and it would sometimes
impact him on the track.

But once he got his
stuff settled off-track,

it meant he could perform better

on the track too.

- To, firstly, he 2008
Formula One World Champion,

Lewis Hamilton,

and the reigning
Formula One champion,

Mr. Jenson Button.

- McLaren basically created
the British Dream Team in 2010

because Jenson Button
had not had it easy

in Formula One in his
earlier part of his career.

But then in 2009, it all
come together for him

and the team he was
with then, Brawn,

had the best car

and he won the
world championship.

Well, it meant you'd had
British World Champions

in 2008, in Lewis Hamilton,

and 2009, in Jenson Button,

and then McLaren managed
to put them together

in the same team.

So you had the two most
recent world champions,

both being British,

both driving for a
British team together.

It was the perfect
scenario for fans.

- Welcome gentlemen.

It is that time
for you to unveil

your 2010 car.

- Well, I think there were
a lot of god awful people

who really wanted Jenson,

who they saw as more of
a proper British driver,

to show Lewis up.

- Please unveil the Vodafone
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25.

- There was a real,
huge amount of energy

that they wanted proof that
Hamilton was aggressive,

he was careless,

he wasn't behaving
right with the team,

and that was why they
slipped backwards.

Whereas, obviously, you've
got the champion at the time,

Button, coming in.

"He's gonna sort it all out.

"It's going to be
really proper now."

We know why, it's
because Lewis is black

and Jenson is white.

And I don't think
that either of them...

Or I certainly don't
think Jensen would have

ever thought about it that way,

but that is, without question,

how it was treated in the media

and how it was treated within
the world of motorsport,

to some extent.

- McLaren has
appeared to have been

your team over
the years gone by,

Jenson's come in now.

Do you feel like
top dog or is it

very much a shared role?
- Well, the only reason

you say that is because I've
been at the front in the team.

So I don't particularly
agree with that.

But obviously,
I've been with them

for many, many years,

and I definitely am
a part of the family.

We are a great family

and we've welcomed Jenson in,

and he's just as much a
part of the team as I am.

So I don't think
that's going to have

any advantage on my side

or any impact to
how we work for it.

- You've got to be best
friends with your teammate

but also fierce rivals.

- Jensen just said,

"To get along with
your teammates,

"you have to be
the best of friends

"and the fiercest of rivals."

Would you go along with that?

Is that something
you see in him,

that you could be
the best of friends?

- I've never ever heard
that saying before,

so I'm not gonna say whether
I agree with that or not.

I mean, I think what you have
to do is you have to have

the utmost respect
for one another.

That's what I'll say.

- There was a time he
made a bit of a joke

about the fact that he was
getting targeted by the stewards

and wondered if it was
because of his race.

Now, it wasn't,

but you can understand
why he'd wonder it

because of course,
nobody else has

that consideration
to think about.

And on the flip side,

you do still get the
disappointing signs

of people being openly
racist towards him.

In 2010, in Spain,

he was racing for McLaren

and Fernando Alonso
was racing for Ferrari.

The Spaniards were
very, very vociferously

behind their home driver.

But the rivalry between Hamilton

and Alonso got pretty
toxic at McLaren,

so there was a lot of fans
that didn't like Lewis

and they were openly
racist towards him.

It seemed to be a problem
within Spanish sport

at the time then,

and as Lewis was going around

on the driver parade,

monkey chants were
being directed

at him as he came past.

That's something that no
other driver has to deal with.

That was also fans
that, previous to that,

had painted themselves
black and pretended

to be Lewis Hamilton's family.

And these were
incidents that got swept

under the carpet by Formula One.

They were pointed at as,

"This is bad, we
should stop this."

And then nothing else
has done about it.

- It's always driven him on,

even from his days
going karting and so on,

he and his father,
and then his brother,

used to turn up
and people looked

almost down their noses at them.

Like, "Who are you?

"Why are you here?"

That drives him on.

I mean, you think if
someone was doing that

to you all the time
for no other reason

that you were a
different color to them,

you either sink or
you grow and think,

"Right, I'm going to show you

"and I'm going to achieve
as much as I can."

- '10, '11, '12, were
strange years at McLaren.

The team was struggling worse

than it even looked like
it'd been struggling.

Although, the really
bad times came later,

it was definitely lining
itself up for them.

All of the well-oiled
parts that have to work

suddenly start grinding
on each other instead.

- One of the instances
I always remember

about dealing with
Lewis was back

when I interviewed him in 2012,

and he was at McLaren,

and he was having a
bit of a tough time.

And asked him a question about
his personal life, off-track.

We'd been told
before the interview

that we weren't allowed
to discuss this,

but then the way
he was speaking,

his demeanor was
very low, dejected,

it was clear something was up.

So I asked him what was wrong.

His previous race, he
had performed very well.

And he started off by
being very defensive,

being like, "Nothing's wrong.

"I don't know why
you'd think that,

"I'm completely fine."

But what Lewis does
very well is then

he likes to articulate
exactly how he's feeling.

He does like to be
open and honest.

And he spoke for
two, three minutes,

opening up eventually.

And he went from saying
that nothing was wrong

to completely
contradicting himself

and saying, at the end,

"It's actually been
a really tough time."

But it showed a bit
of insight there,

that Lewis is a genuine guy.

He quite often will try and
close himself off from it

because that leaves you as

someone who's vulnerable,

if you're always being that way.

But if he's engaging with you

and he's speaking to you,

he's speaking in an
honest and fair way.

And it was something
that, I think,

he was then allowed to do
when he moved to Mercedes,

is be himself more

and that's helped his success.

The greatest drivers
tend to go to teams

that aren't winning races

and help them start
to become successful.

Michael Schumacher
went to Ferrari

when Ferrari were not very good,

and he helped them
become a dominant force,

and added all of those
world championships

because of the work he did

and the groundwork
he helped set,

and Lewis wanted to
emulate that, in some way,

and Mercedes offered the
opportunity to do that.

- Niki Lauda saw his opportunity

that Lewis Hamilton wasn't
achieving with McLaren,

and there was a
chance to bring him

into the fold of Mercedes.

- It was shock when Lewis opted

to leave McLaren
and joined Mercedes,

mainly because it
was such a risk.

McLaren had given him success,

they'd given him
race winning cars,

the whole way
through his career.

At that point, it didn't
seem like there was anything

that would suggest
McLaren wouldn't

still be winning
races moving forwards.

And although
Hamilton hadn't added

another championship to
his number, at that point,

he still was in a team
that obviously loved him,

that he had enjoyed
racing for up to then,

but he'd had some
trouble maybe off-track

that had been affecting the way

he'd been performing
on the track.

And Lewis looked
at it as a chance

for a clean break,
a fresh start.

He didn't want a team that
controlled him so much,

like McLaren had done
throughout his career.

- Particularly, because he
had been a junior at McLaren,

he had a very
restrictive contract.

He had lots of ambitions,

he had lots of opportunities.

- A lot of people
criticize Lewis Hamilton

for running his
life how he wants

as opposed to how Formula
One normally demands.

But Hamilton is
absolutely adamant,

he does things his way
because that's what gets

the best out of him.

And that's probably an
intrinsic part of why

he left McLaren
to go to Mercedes,

because he felt that he
was still being treated

like a young driver

and not being given the respect.

And maybe Mercedes treated
him more as a partner,

as opposed to an employee.

And so, he was
given greater head

and greater leeway.

And so, who can see
he's got it wrong?

- In this sport, it's
not unlike football,

where you are teammates

with lots of different people.

It's obviously, we are
teammates as two drivers,

and our ultimate
goal is to make sure

we get those two
cars across the line,

first and second.

But also, we wanna be the
first one ahead of that.

So there's that
internal competition

and the external competition.

- It's all fine being
friends with your teammate

until you're competing.

- The one person
you need to beat

in Formula One is your teammate.

So therefore, there is this idea

that he's your mate
'cause he's your teammate.

No, he's not.

He is the one person
you need to beat

because he is the other person

who has exactly
the same machinery,

all being well, that you have.

So if you are behind your
teammate consistently,

it must work really
hard on here.

- So there's a degree
to which you have

to, at least, pretend to
have a entente cordiale

between the pair of you

in order to work together.

- I mean, I don't have
that to better anyone.

Of course, I want to
maximize in my life,

in the opportunities and
the gifts that I was given,

and all the opportunity
that is at hand.

- So Lewis and Nico Rosberg used

to be karting teammates
back in the late 90s

and early 2000s.

And back then, it
was obviously fun.

Their dream was to go and race

in Formula One together.

- They were genuine friends,

they celebrated each
other's successes,

and I think they were
delighted to be teammates.

That would have been something

that would have been a big sell

for Hamilton moving to Mercedes,

was to be reunited with Rosberg.

In order to get them to win,

they turned them
against each other.

There seems to have been a point

that division was shown,

and then it became
outright paranoia.

So it's a method that
works competitively.

Is it sustainable

and does it make everyone
involved go crazy?

No, it's not sustainable.

And yes, it will
ultimately screw things up

and create this incredibly
intense environment.

- Lewis needed a
little bit of love

and support early on.

There was a couple of times
where Hamilton was running ahead

of Rosberg in a race,

and Mercedes were on
for a good result.

One was in Malaysia,

they were on for third
and fourth in the race,

and there was no point in
risking them swapping positions.

So Mercedes told the drivers,

"Don't race each other,"

which meant Rosberg had
to sit behind Hamilton.

And he didn't
particularly like that

because he didn't want
this driver coming in,

new to the team that he'd
been working with for awhile,

and having a little
bit more authority

or getting a bit more
preferential treatment.

So there was always this effort

from both of them
to want equality

within that team.

But then when we came to 2014,

Mercedes was the only team

that was ever going
to win a championship,

so that meant they were
their two main rivals.

- I think in 2014,

they were still
getting on together.

They were still working to
push the team forward together.

Hamilton was probably
a little bit surprised

how competitive
Rosberg was with him.

Things really started
to go in 2015.

The rivalry was intense
enough on track,

and then there'd be people
outright making stuff up

about everything else off-track,

and a lot of conjecture about

everything that really
was happening already.

By 2016, Hamilton did allege

that Mercedes was sabotaging
his car at one point.

Or seemed to allege,

after the third engine blowout.

- [Announcer] It's
Lewis Hamilton,

there's a fire at the
back of that Mercedes car.

His engine has blown

and his chances of winning the
Malaysia Grand Prix with it.

- Oh no, no.

- It's a very, very
odd feeling right now,

I have to say.

It's very hard to stand here

and be old positive and be like,

"Yeah, it's going to be great"

'cause I'm the only one
with Mercedes engines

that have been failing this year

out of all the engines,

which is...

It just doesn't
sit right with me.

- There was a moment
in 2016 where,

by now, we were a couple of
years into Mercedes dominance,

where Hamilton and Rosberg were

really fighting for the title,

and Rosberg was leading at
the start of the race in Spain

and Hamilton went to overtake

because he'd seen
Rosberg had a bit

of a problem with his car.

- [Announcer] Good
start from Carlos Sainz.

He's ahead of Valtteri Bottas,

[indistinct], turn three we go!

- Rosberg defended, Hamilton
went onto the grass,

and spun and took them both out.

- [Announcer] And
it's Nico Rosberg,

and Hamilton's onto the grass.

And Hamilton's had
a massive crash!

And he's crashed
into his teammate!

The two Mercedes come together

as Hamilton tried to
pass on the inside!

And he can cover his
hands over his eyes,

and he won't want
to see that again!

- And it was the first
time they properly collided

and taken each other
completely out of the race.

They'd had incidents before

where they raced hard but fair,

but this one was the worst
thing you could do as teammates,

is crash into each other.

And off the back of that,

there was clearly a sign
from within the team

of descent towards one
driver or the other

for their part in it.

And it really, I think,

made for a big crack
between the two of them.

Going into the final
race in Abu Dhabi,

Lewis needed to win the race

to have a chance of
winning the championship,

and he needed his
teammate, Nico Rosberg,

to not finish right behind him.

- Conundrum for Rosberg:

If Vettel gets a
run at him on DRS,

does he fight him or not?

- Going into the race,

he'd said he wasn't
going to do anything

that would jeopardize
Rosberg's race,

but they were leading,
first and second,

Hamilton in the lead,

and what he did was
drive at a slower pace

that backed Rosberg
towards the cars behind,

so it left him under threat.

- [Announcer] Lewis is
backing them up even more.

- [Announcer] and
Rosberg knows it.

So does he let
Sebastian Vettel go?

He can't afford any contact.

He can't afford an
entanglement here.

- Now, the drivers
behind never really tried

to move on Rosberg,

they knew it was risky.

If there'd been contact,

it would have meant that

if Rosberg was taken out,

they'd be to blame for him
losing the championship.

But Hamilton had
this incredible skill

to be able to go fast enough

that Rosberg can overtake him

but slow enough that other
drivers have caught up.

So it showed the level
of talent that he had

but at the same time,

he was then putting
his teammate at risk.

And if it all gone wrong,

that was going to
be really damaging

to Mercedes as a team.

So what they were watching
was some infighting play out

in front of the world
in a title decider.

- [Announcer]
Lewis Hamilton wins

the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!

Nico Rosberg is second!

He takes the championship
34 years after his father!

It's like father, it's like son!

- He's willing to
push it right up to

what you would call "the
limit of fair play,"

that was in that gray area

where it was maybe being
a bit unsportsmanlike,

but it wasn't illegal.

What he could control, he
was going to try and control.

- Well, my mindset's the
same as it is every year.

I want to win.

It's a pretty, pretty
simple mindset to have.

It's a lot harder
obviously to do that

but every year, wanting to grow,

wanting to improve as a driver

and as a human.

- Rosberg knew that
when he won the title,

he had to leave because
of everything it took

for him to beat Hamilton,

it just wasn't
sustainable longterm.

- Hamilton rivalries are
an interesting topic.

The most obvious one is
with Sebastian Vettel.

- So Lewis was the
youngest drivers champion

at the time when he won
his championship in 2008,

but then Sebastian Vettel
came through the ranks

and usurped him
with that record,

and went on to win four in a row

for Red Bull, from 2010 to 2013.

And Hamilton was in the fight,

but never winning the
championship in those years.

And it was frustrating for him

because he felt like he should
be getting those results,

that he could be
getting those records.

And at that point,

it looked like Vettel
was going to be the man

that might match
Michael Schumacher's

overall record of wins
and championships.

So Hamilton was looking at it

as someone who
basically was a threat

to his potential legacy
within the sport,

if he could go and
achieve those results.

And then, things started to
get a little bit more tasty

when Mercedes became dominant

and Lewis started
coming back at Vettel

in terms of the wins,

started getting more titles.

- Arguably, Ferrari and Vettel
should have been champion

those two years,
but they weren't.

And there were some
very tetchy moments.

And whenever you'd
have drivers going

for the ultimate
prize in motorsport,

and I suppose it's the same
in boxing or any sport,

there's respect,
there's admiration,

but is there mutual
appreciation?

Possibly, but do
they like each other?

Do they have to like each other?

Probably not, because
you want to go out there

and you want to
nail that person.

- [Announcer] Oh dear.

There is Daniil Kvyat,

stopped by the
side of the track.

- In 2017, they were fighting

for the championship,

one in a Mercedes,
one in a Ferrari,

and they were racing
each other wheel-to-wheel

in Azerbaijan.

And Vettel felt that
Hamilton was using

some dirty tricks
behind the safety car,

and brake tested him,

and basically made Vettel run

into the back of Hamilton's car.

- [Announcer] The safety
car is coming out.

So there goes Hamilton.

- [Lewis] Safety car
needs to speed up

because this is too slow.

- [Announcer] Lewis is backing
up the pack a little bit

and oh!

He went into him!

- [Vettel] He brake-tested me!

- Hamilton did no such thing.

Vettel actually
just made a mistake,

but he was so incensed
to what he'd seen.

And these two were
clearly fighting

to be the best,
potentially, of all times,

they were fighting for a
fifth world championship each,

that Vettel then
drove into Hamilton

to show his frustration.

- [Vettel] What the
[beep] going on?

- [Lewis] Vettel literally
just came alongside me

and turned in and hit me.

- And it just showed actually
what was on the line here.

These were two drivers that

clearly were on a
very similar level,

but they were
looking at a legacy

that would go long beyond when

they currently race
in Formula One.

- But who came
out on top in 2017

and who came on top in 2018?

Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari and Vettel cracked,

and he didn't.

- But from 2017, when
Mercedes delivered

a race winning car
and championship
winning car once again,

there were bigger threats

from the likes of
Ferrari and Red Bull,

but they were still
the standout team.

And that allowed Hamilton,

with Valtteri Bottas
as almost his wing man,

as the guy that was
good and helping

but wasn't always
the biggest threat,

allowed Hamilton to
dominate completely.

He started racking up records
left, right and center

for race wins, pole positions,

fastest laps,

and now world championships,
matching Michael Schumacher.

- It's not just the titles.

It's the time that
he had in Formula One

at the highest level,

continually repeating
maximum performance

after maximum performance.

There's no dip.

- Hamilton's ability
to not make mistakes is

what has served
him incredibly well

all the way through
his racing career.

But they're so,
so rare from him.

- How many mistakes does
he make in his career?

It's very difficult
to think of very many.

Even to number on the
fingers of one hand,

never mind two.

And somehow, he's
just able to perform.

It shows a great mental capacity

to learn from those mistakes.

A bit like Formula
One is dominated

by engineering and data;

this is his data up
here, in his head.

He's become part of the
most successful team

in Formula One.

I never thought anyone
would be able to top

the Ferrari team of
Michael Schumacher

in the noughties,

when he just went on that
run of incredible success,

championship after championship
after championship.

But Mercedes and Lewis
Hamilton have done that,

and they've done it in a way

where some people
say it's boring,

but you've got to
applaud what they've done

because every
company, every team,

in whatever sport, wants to
achieve like they have done.

- Formula One champion,
Lewis Hamilton.

- I'm really proud of what
we've achieved as a team.

I'm proud of what we've done.

To go into a sixth year...

Well, it's my seventh
year with the team,

but on the sixth year,

for us to to have
fought for a world title

and been at the front,

and sustain the performance
that we have collectively,

I think has been...

And then on the driving front,

I'm definitely very happy with

my performance this year.

I think there's areas I
can improve on, for sure,

but that will never change.

The races are really where
the championship was won,

but I think moreso the outside

of just being happier.

Happier in a collaboration
with the team,

in terms of our teamwork,

the things that...

The doors that it opened,

in terms of doing the fashion,

that's been well-received
and well-accepted.

And my fans have been amazing

in supporting me with it.

Being able to do those things

and it not be talked
about too much,

in the sense of negative,
"that's a distraction."

- People get a bit
offended that he goes off

and does stuff
with other people.

So he's more likely to
go to Paris Fashion Week

than the Goodwood Revival,

but ultimately, they're
kind of the same thing.

It's just one of them
is more normalized

in the world that he exists in

or that they perceive him
as existing in exclusively.

- I remember Bernie
Ecclestone saying,

"You look at the value
that Lewis Hamilton,

"for all his skills
and all his attributes,

"look what he
brings to the sport.

"He's not just a
Formula One driver."

He brings more to the value

and the brand of Formula One

than someone like Nico Rosberg,

because he reaches out
to a different audience,

a black audience.

He reaches out in music,

he does fashion,

he does veganism.

He's getting more active
in terms of politics,

and diversity and inclusion.

- [Interviewer] So
welcome to Brazil.

How are you feeling today?

- [speaking foreign
language] Good morning.

- [Interviewer] [speaking
foreign language] Thank you.

- Hi everyone, it's
great to be here.

Most importantly, as I said,

I've just come from this
great period of time

with my family and friends,

that I have this huge
wave of positive energy,

and nothing can
really dent that.

My goal, as a kid,

was always to do
something, like Ayrton.

So I never even had imagined

what would be beyond that.

Just getting to
accomplish something,

like Ayrton was
already a huge feat.

- One of the guys that Lewis
Hamilton always references

as someone who inspired him
growing up is Ayrton Senna.

He was a three-time
world champion.

He lost his life racing in 1994.

And Lewis was just starting
out in karts at that point,

so he was aware of Senna,

of his style, of his skill,

and of the fact that he
was killed behind the car,

and that affected him
quite a lot, I think.

Lewis had a very similar
helmet designed to Senna,

a bright yellow design,

which was actually to help
his father pick him out

on the karting track
when they were racing.

But it also showed
that he was inspired

by what Ayrton did.

And Ayrton was another
one of these drivers

who felt like he
could use his position

to improve the world,

outside of Formula One,

but also his driving style
was very similar to Lewis.

He was very aggressive,
very attacking,

did everything on
raw, natural feel,

and there's a lot of
similarities between the two.

- I get that people
will still go like,

"Oh, well you're a
Formula One driver,

"how can you be an
environmentalist?

"How dare you even
talk about that?"

But it is something he
believes in very strongly.

It's something that he
educated himself about

relatively late in life.

- You see, I think it's
always been an issue

and I think what's been...

Does it mean they're
going to knock down trees?

Yeah, I mean, I'm not for that.

I think you've got such
a beautiful country here.

- He wants to leave an
environmental legacy.

He wants to leave a legacy

that transforms
not just the sport,

but the world.

- Honestly, there's
a lot of money

that goes into building
one of these circuits.

You already have a
historic circuit here.

It doesn't need to...

You don't need to cut any
more rainforests down.

You don't have to
damage any more land.

And I think the money could go

to a better cause here.

I think there's a lot more

the government can do
with the money here,

for the infrastructure
of this these cities.

You still have a lot of
poverty within Brazil.

Again, I always question,

why can't it be sooner?

Why do we have to wait

for 10 more years
of motor racing

for them to make the changes?

They've got the finances
to implicate it as sooner,

the technology is there
to make it sooner,

so why not?

- During the last news
conference of the day,

the human rights issue over
racing in Bahrain was, again,

a major talking point.

- Ahead of the Bahrain
Grand Prix in 2020,

a number of individuals
wrote to Hamilton

to ask him to use his platform

to basically show that there
were human rights abuses going

on in the country.

And there's a number of places

that Formula One races in

where there are questionable
human rights records.

And one thing Formula
One says it wants to do,

and it has a charter for this,

is to improve things,

is to help,

is to help educate people

or just try and make
the situation better.

And Lewis came out and said

that having had these letters,

that he felt Formula
One wasn't doing enough,

that it needed to be doing more.

And he wasn't
quite so forthright

in terms of saying
what needed to change,

but he did call out
the sport itself

for not doing enough,

even though it
said it wanted to.

At times, he's a
spokesperson for the sport.

He is the most popular driver,

the most successful driver,

so for him to come
out and say it meant

he knew people were
going to listen.

- It's the first time
I'd received letters

like that along my travels.

So I've taken, for the last...

The last few months,

taken time to try
and educate myself

because coming here,
all these years,

I wasn't aware of
all of the detail

of the human rights issues.

- It's sort of a
bit bittersweet.

The reason that Hamilton
originally hadn't went

beyond the sport was
because his place

within it was always
a bit contested,

and he wasn't necessarily
accepted fully

into its protective bubble.

But that has created
an extraordinary
star for Formula One,

and one that frankly, this sport

and the rest of us in it,

don't deserve a lot of the time.

- He's definitely
transcended the sport

because he's not just
about motor racing.

He's about fashion,

he's about music,

he's about political activism,

he's about veganism.

But he reaches out to
all sorts of people

in the same way that
Tiger Woods did;

a completely
different, new animal

in the world of sport.

It's the Tiger effect,
the Lewis effect.

People want to watch golf,

they want to get
involved in golf

because of Tiger Woods.

Likewise, it's the
same with Formula One.

They want to get involved
because of Lewis Hamilton.

And he's done it in a way

that makes it accessible
for more people.

- When Lewis talks about
his position in Formula One

and his future within the sport,

he now looks at it in
a very different way.

He's been very
open about the fact

that he wants to
change the sport

in terms of representation,

equality, opportunities,

and that he feels the best
place for him to do that is

if he is a driver in the car

and people are still
looking at him closely.

If he was on the
outside, just saying,

"Things need to change,"

but he wasn't part
of the sport anymore,

he doesn't feel like you'd
have such a big influence.

So he feels it's important that

if he wants to change the sport,

he needs to be the heart of it,

leading that change

- In, in all honesty,

I don't do it for recognition.

I trained my whole life.

I think the most
important people

when I got out of the race

and when I got home,

it's FaceTiming with my
sister, my brother, my mom,

and my niece and nephew,

that was like...

And speaking to my dad
and my stepmom, Linda.

Yes, I've won this seventh title

but we have another
big, big fight to win,

and that's for racial
equality across the board.

- I think it's very difficult to

necessarily explain
to some people

because to say that
Lewis Hamilton,

who is a multimillionaire,

who can effectively
do what he wants,

he can walk away
from his job tomorrow

and he can just do
whatever he likes,

is in any way oppressed

or has suffered oppression.

People find that very
hard to swallow as a fact,

but it is a fact.

- As a Formula One driver,

he's known around the world

for more than just
driving a racing car,

and he felt that
with that attention

and that platform,

he could really help
to change the world

in different ways
for the better.

- It's definitely been something

that Hamilton has
become more enthusiastic

about thinking about

over the latter
stage of his career.

If you look at a
completely white sport

and then look at the world,

and call it a "global sport,"

and think, "Oh, there's
nothing wrong with that."

No, that's completely incorrect.

There's an obvious
problem there.

What it's become is a Western
European touring facility.

- The sad fact is that he is

the only black
driver Formula One

and for the foreseeable future,

that will stay the case.

So in a sense, Formula One
and Motorsport generally has

still got a lot of work to do,

which is why his stance
and his performance

and his words in 2020

in the light of the
death of George Floyd

and everything that produced

around the world
was so significant

and so important.

- He just wants to see

a wider range of
people being able

to get opportunities
within Formula One,

because at the moment it's
a very male-dominated sport.

- This research that
we're doing is trying

to understand why
there is a lack

of young black kids
applying to STEM subjects.

What are the barriers?

- I think we're going to
look back at Lewis Hamilton

as the greatest Formula
One driver we've ever seen,

and I think it will be beyond

just his racing abilities.

It will be his results,

it will be all the
records he holds,

but it will also be the fact
that he managed to do it

in a certain style,

he was entertaining to watch.

And he also forged his own path,

and then, off the track,
tried to change things

for the better in his
view, at the very least,

in the way that
the wider world is.

And I think for
someone to take that

all upon themselves,

and still be at the
top of their game,

and still be able to
produce the results he has,

is remarkable.

- Legacy is really
important, I think,

to Lewis Hamilton.

He said he's not motivated,

like Schumacher said,

about titles and records
and figures and so on,

and that's probably true.

But also, he is
driven by this desire

to open up Formula One,

to open up motorsport,

to make a difference
because otherwise,

if he can't do it, who can?

- But for me, growing up,

having people you see on TV

that could put a big
smile on your face.

For me, I never really imagined

that I'll be able to
do that to young kids.

- Hopefully I'll be racing
Formula One for McLaren.

Anything with an engine,
I really enjoy doing.

- All those years ago,

we were sitting in
the back of a trailer,

in a little cavalier
and everything,

we can never have imagined
being in here, [mumbles].

When you get in that
Formula One car,

everything just disappears

and it's the most
amazing thing ever.

It's a real pleasure to see

the smile on people's faces

and to have pictures
with everyone.

It's just a continuous,
almost, job,

trying to keep everyone happy

and you can't make
everyone happy,

and I want to try and live
as normal life as possible.

Going over it in my mind,

what's the best thing for me?

And it's just gotten
worse and worse,

obviously, because I've
got bigger and bigger.

It's quite unreal.

But everyone has a dream,

and although I'm
living my dream still,

there's more dreams,

there's more ambitions.

So that will keep me gunning
for plenty of years to come.

[soft music]