Lewis Hamilton has one of the most lavish lifestyles in the world – but behind closed doors, he remains as genuine as his debut in Formula 1.
The seven-time champion is already F1’s biggest draw with a move to the sport’s most famous team Ferrari enhancing his star even further.
The Stevenage-born driver either shares or owns outright over 75 individual records in his 18 seasons competing in motorsport’s elite.
They include the most Grand Prix wins, podiums, pole positions, races led and his joint-record seven world titles with Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton’s unparalleled success on track has brought with it the fame and fortune expected of one of Britain’s greatest-ever sportsmen.
The 39-year-old has an incredible property portfolio, a $16.5million supercar collection and is an executive producer on a Brad Pitt movie.
Hamilton has been knighted and regularly socialises with celebrities, but Matt Whyman found the Mercedes star down-to-earth.
The British author spent the start of this F1 season, and the entirety of the last, travelling with the Silver Arrows, staying in the same team hotels, and sharing meals together for his ‘Inside Mercedes F1’ book.
Whyman was on the scene when Hamilton broke the news to his long-term colleagues that he would be leaving for Ferrari in 2025.
He told talkSPORT Driving: “Absolutely there is this sort of public perception of what Lewis is like, and then behind closed doors, he’s very genuine.
“There’s nothing different about him in terms of being in terms of what you see publicly and what you see internally.
“The only difference, I would say, is that he’s very much a team player, a team member behind in the motorhome. He’s no different than anyone else in that motorhome, in the team, and relates to everyone on a level.
“So I quite often see him come into the motorhome and just lark around. You know, just office banter, if you like, with whoever is around, and then there’s just this weird thing that he then steps out of the motor home, and all the flashbulbs go off, and it’s a completely different persona.”
Hamilton has a combined 52.5m followers across his social media pages – almost three times that of second-placed Max Verstappen.
As he’s matured and his influence has grown, F1’s No.44 has become more comfortable becoming the moral compass inside the paddock.
Hamilton is the first and – to date, remains only – black F1 driver and he has detailed the racist abuse he has endured in his career.
He was praised for ‘opening F1’s eyes’ and ‘being a pioneer’ for equality after wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt in Austria in 2020.
Hamilton has also used his platform to champion other human rights activities, which included wearing a rainbow helmet at Grands Prix held in Qatar to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Such is his aura that fans can’t help but make some sort of sound in his presence – something Hamilton has become accustomed to.
Whyman added to talkSPORT: “He said to me that over the course of his career, he hasn’t changed.
“It’s just that people’s perception of him has changed as he’s, you know, become more and more of a public figure. And there was something that he said which I really came to understand what that must feel like.
“He said that wherever he is in the world, whatever he is doing, when he’s finished talking to someone, or whether it’s exchanging a few words or having a conversation, or whatever it is, when he turns around, that person always makes a noise, and that was all he said.
“But I understood what he meant by that, which was, you know, people kind of going, oh my goodness, it’s Lewis, or just a sigh or a response to who it is.
“But at the same time, he says, ‘I haven’t changed. I’m just the same person’. But that really drove home to me.
“That must be a very strange experience, I think, to go through life where you can’t have an exchange with someone without them making a noise, you know, just in recognition of the fact that who it is.
“So I think he’s learned to cope with the intense scrutiny that he receives very well, and he still has this bubble within the motorhome.
“Be it Mercedes, be it Ferrari, where he can be himself and when I say himself he can be a racer you know that’s what he says, he’s there to do a job, and he’s very committed to that.