Lewis Hamilton changes lane

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Preparation for the afterlife

Often within the breaks between his 18 seasons in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton found himself in rooms with legends. Some from other exotic industries: film, music, fashion – all worlds to which Hamilton felt an increasing affinity, becoming probably the most winning F1 driver in history. And many from other major sports. He noted that eventually, especially for those aging athletes who were nearly to retire, the conversation turned to preparing for the afterlife.

Not death, exactly. But life after sports. “I’ve talked to so many amazing athletes, from Boris Becker to Serena Williams and even Michael Jordan,” says Hamilton, now 39. “Talking to great athletes that I’ve met along the way who are retired or still competing, and the fear of what’s next, the lack of preparation for what’s next. Many of them said, “I stopped too soon.” Or, “I stayed too long.” “When it ended, I didn’t have anything planned.” “My whole world collapsed because my whole life revolved around this sport.” “

“Some of them said, ‘I didn’t plan and there was a bit of confusion because then I was really lost. There was such a hole. Such emptiness. And I had no idea how I would fill it. And at the beginning I was in such a hurry Down try to fill it because you are filling it with the wrong thing. And you make some mistakes. And then you will finally find your way. For some it took longer. For some it took less time. But I just thought, OK, when will I stop, how can I avoid this? So I started thinking seriously about finding other things that I was passionate about.”

Hamilton, whose parents separated when he was a toddler and who began racing on the age of eight, had the primary half of his life driven by one thing: “Being the one black kid on the track, struggling at school, my biggest motivation really was all the time acceptance.” . “If I win the race, I will be accepted in this world.” That determination, for a working-class kid who grew up on a council estate north of London, led him to unimaginable heights in motorsport. His seven individual F1 world championships most often ties him with Michael Schumacher; his eight team titles with Mercedes and 103 Grand Prix victories put him in the first class. But it wasn’t until later that Hamilton finally felt comfortable channeling the part of himself he had repressed by racing full-time in other creative areas. A search that, rather than detract from his racing career, could actually improve his performance on the track, direct him more purposefully into the second half of his life, and ultimately revitalize his soul.

“When I first encountered Formula 1,” he says, “it was an awakening for me, an attraction, racing-racing-racing – racing and nothing else. There is no room for anything else. But I realized that constant work alone does not bring happiness and you need to find balance in your life. And I discovered that I was actually quite unhappy.” The fixation flattened. “I used to be missing a lot, I used to be missing so rather more. And it was crazy because I assumed: I’m in Formula 1, I’ve achieved my dream and I’m where I all the time desired to be, I’m at the highest, I’m fighting for the championship. But I just wasn’t – it wasn’t nice.