Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE, born on January 07, 1985 is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG team.

Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire to a black father and a white mother Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One". His father Anthony, whose parents immigrated from Grenada in the West Indies in the 1950's, and his mother Carmen divorced when Lewis was about two years old.

Lewis lived with Carmen until he was 10 then moved in with Anthony, his wife Linda and their three-year-old son Nicolas. Remaining close to his mother, Lewis also formed a strong bond with his stepmother and credits them both with contributing to the caring, considerate side of his nature. He finds the cheerful bravery of his stepbrother, who suffers from cerebral palsy, inspirational. "I only have to think of Nic to feel motivated and put a smile on my face." His steely ambition and iron resolve come from the head of the family. "Even though he always told me to be courteous and polite, my focus and determination comes from, and has always been driven by, my dad."

Anthony Hamilton, Lewis's father, mentor and manager, worked day and night for years (at one time he held three different jobs) to further his son's racing career, which effectively began when eight year old Lewis was given a well used go-kart that cost nearly as much as the family's modest monthly income. Soon the Hamiltons, Anthony, Linda, Nic and Lewis - were a fixture at karting events and the boy racer, wearing the familiar yellow helmet chosen by an anxious Anthony to better keep track of his speedy progress in crowded kart fields, began winning races and championships.

In 1995, a 10-year-old kart champion, wearing a borrowed suit and shoes, picked up two trophies at a motorsport awards ceremony in London. Brandishing an autograph book prepared by his father, he approached Ron Dennis, boss of the McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. "I said 'Hello Mr. Dennis, I'm Lewis Hamilton and one day I'd like to race for your team.' I asked him for his autograph and his phone number. He put them in my book and also wrote 'Call me in nine years.'"

The call was made just three years later and it was the Hamilton household's telephone that rang. It was Ron Dennis who presented Anthony with an offer to financially support his son's career for the forseeable future, with the proviso that Lewis should keep working hard at school. Lewis: "I just went upstairs to my room and got on with my homework. It was so unbelievable. I struggled to take it in."

While the family's financial struggle was over it put extra pressure on McLaren's teenage protege to meet ever higher expectations. As well as having to respond to envious critics who claimed he should be winning all the time, given his funding, it was imperative that Lewis continually prove himself worthy of his benefactor's investment. The need to achieve undoubtedly accelerated his progress through motorsport's ranks. After winning eight championships in six years of kart racing, he went on to win three major single seater titles, the most prestigious of which was the GP2 championship, where in 2006 he took five victories from 21 starts. But it was the young British charger's several spirited comeback performances, from the back of the pack to the podium, that particularly prompted McLaren to promote him to the Formula One team.

Announcing his arrival to Formula One in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has since gone on to become one of the most recognized sportsmen in the world. Considered by many to be the fastest man on four wheels, his speed and natural flair for driving saw him become Formula One's youngest ever World Champion at the age of 23.

Lewis started his racing career in 1993 when he was 8 years old and by the age of 10, he had won his first British Karting Championship. He went on to win a further four championships and by 13 years old he had signed with McLaren-Mercedes–Benz. He continued to win the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 Championships.

In his first Formula One season in 2007, Lewis finished second, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen whilst collecting the record for most wins in a debut season. The following year he went on to win his first World Championship for McLaren.

Hamilton was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the 2009 New Year Honours and on March 18, 2009, Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race suit. This wax replica cost around £150,000 and took over six months to complete.

Lewis is in a long term relationship with former Pussycat Dolls lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, and he will is featured in upcoming global Hollywood blockbuster, Cars 2 as his own character, Lewis Hamilton.