Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton has revealed that there are no ill feelings towards teachers who told him he would never amount to anything.
Born in Stevenage, Hamilton was one of very few black people at his school growing up and, sadly, he received abuse because of it.
That abuse extended to the karting track, where he would often be the victim remarks and finger pointing there too.
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The seven-time champion has previously detailed that he and his father Anthony were, more often than not, the only black people to rock up at a lot of karting events, but this has never dampened his spirit.
It has only spurred him on to prove people wrong, and show the teachers in school that told him he was nothing that he could be one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers to ever life – and that is exactly what he did.
The now 37-year-old entered F1 in 2007 having won the 2006 Formula 2 title, and he won four races in his debut season as he competed for the championship in his debut year with McLaren.
He might have been champion that year had it not been for the infamous pit lane incident in China that ultimately saw him lose out to Kimi Raikkonen, but it was evident right from the off that the young man from Stevenage was going to do great things in the pinnacle of motorsport.
A further five wins in 2008 took him to his first title, dramatically passing Timo Glock on the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix to win his maiden crown and break the heart of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
94 more wins have followed since then, as well as six world championships with Mercedes, making him, statistically, the most successful driver of all time.
Hamilton might have broken the tie between himself and Michael Schumacher on seven world titles had it not been for the controversy of Abu Dhabi last season that saw Max Verstappen win the crown, and it would have been his fifth title since he went vegan.
He was told by doctors that he would not be getting the protein he needs if he changed his diet so radically, but his success would suggest otherwise.
“I mean, I’ve won five world titles since then, I’ve been more consistent than I ever was in the past so it just takes proving people wrong, and that’s what I did,” he told Vanity Fair.
The 37-year-old details the abuse he got from teachers who told him he would never achieve anything, but he tells of the motivation this gave him to succeed.
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“Look, when I was at school, I was dyslexic and struggling like hell, and one of the only few Black kids in my school, being put in the lowest classes and never given a chance to progress or even helped to progress,” explained Hamilton.
“Teachers were telling me, ‘You’re never going to be nothing.’ I remember being behind the shed, in tears, like, ‘I’m not going to be anything,’ and believing it for a split second.”
The Mercedes driver described that as “the most demotivating thing to hear, especially when you witness them doing the complete opposite with your white counterparts.”
However, his goal is not to stick it to the people who bullied him when he was young, because it only served to make him stronger.
“I don’t actually hold any grudge against those people, because they fuelled me up,” added Hamilton.
Hamilton has managed six podium finishes this season in a misbehaving W13 car, but recent improvements would suggest that Mercedes are not far away from challenging Ferrari and Red Bull for wins.