Sir Lewis Hamilton is suddenly on a hot streak. In early July, the seven-time Formula 1 champion won the British Grand Prix for the ninth time, setting a record for the most victories by a driver at a single circuit. It was just the latest milestone for the thirty-nine-year-old Hamilton, who has won more races and finished on the podium more times than any other Formula 1 driver in the history of the competition. But the win in England was his first in more than two years.
He followed it up by finishing on the podium in third at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest a couple weeks later. And then a week after that, Hamilton, who was knighted a few years ago, notched another victory at the Belgian Grand Prix (after his teammate George Russell was disqualified post-race when his car was found to be underweight).
I got a chance to sit down with Hamilton at the Ritz-Carlton in Budapest the night before the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Ritz-Carlton is the official hotel partner for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. And I was one of a group of invited guests and prize winners who travelled from Vienna to Budapest in a convoy of Mercedes vehicles for what the Ritz-Carlton called the “Road to Legendary Car Tour.” Hamilton stopped by to chat with the group and to offer a tasting of his non-alcoholic tequila brand, Almave, which he launched last year with the spirits company Casa Lumbre.
Hamilton is taking on new challenges at the track, too. This season is his last with the Mercedes team. He announced before the season that he would be leaving after twelve years and will be driving for Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton is also going Hollywood, co-producing the much-hyped movie F1, which is scheduled for release next year and stars Brad Pitt as a former driver returning to compete in Formula 1. (Check out the teaser trailer here.)
We talked about his battle to get back on top of the podium, how he stays in shape to compete with younger drivers, calling bullshit on the F1 screenplay, getting out on the track with Brad Pitt, collaborating with director Joseph Kosinski, and how he’ll know when to walk away from racing. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
ESQUIRE: What do you get from doing something entrepreneurial, like launching Almave, which is different from everything else you’re involved in?
LEWIS HAMILTON: I think as a racing driver it’s really healthy to unplug and do other things and tap into other mediums. And when you get into the room to sit with a bunch of creatives—working with Casa Lumbre, for example, who have done who knows how many different spirits—they can explain to you the whole process. And then there’s things that perhaps you ask them that they’ve never had to think about before.
Your win at the British Grand Prix was your first time on the top of the podium since 2021. What was it like to finally get back to winning and to do it on your home turf in England?
Everyone was talking about it being this fairy tale. And it really, really was unexpected. Going into that weekend, I had no idea that that was going to be possible. And it had been such a long time. So many thoughts cross your mind. Some of them you start to potentially believe in, bit by bit. And finally, I had that day when I was able to excel, and we excelled as a team, and it just kind of shuts that all down. And it helps you rebuild again. So it was really great to be able to do it at home, in my home country, with my family around. The last race in Mercedes at Silverstone. It couldn’t have been more magical.
The past couple years have been kind of a grind for you after experiencing so much success for so long. What have you learned about yourself going through that?
It’s been mostly a battle of the mind. Keeping yourself sane, trying to pick up new tools. Ultimately, it always comes back to persistence and dedication. Hard work. It always does eventually pay off. I think I learned that life is really about how much pain you can experience and keep going, and how much you can suffer and keep moving forward, you know? And that’s life, right? It’s not how you fall; it’s how you get up. It’s how you continue to apply yourself every single day. It’s how you connect with people that you work with. I probably learned to be a better teammate in this period of time, because we’ve had more time to focus on communication.
There’s been a lot of buzz about F1, the upcoming Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt. I know you’re a producer. How did you get involved?
We were there from the beginning. There were a couple scripts out there. I had known Joe [Kosinski, the director] from when we talked about doing Top Gun: Maverick through Tom [Cruise]. Tom put me in touch with Joe, and there were discussions of being in the movie. And then we just stayed in touch. Then we all reconnected to talk about potentially doing a Formula 1 movie. And then we went through this whole process of working with a writer.
What was that like? Did the screenwriter interview you about the details of driving in Formula 1?
Ehren [Kruger, the screenwriter] basically did a ton of research, watched a lot of races, came to a bunch of races, and then went away and wrote up a script. But we would sit and talk about what racing is about. Then once he wrote the script, I would sit with him and call bullshit, basically, on the things that don’t seem real and are not what F1 is about and try to make sure that it’s as authentic as possible. Then at the same time, I started a production company, so I’m a producer with these guys. I’ve been able to be involved in all areas—so making sure the cast is diverse, making sure we’ve got a woman in a pit stop, which we never, ever had at the actual track. Hans Zimmer was someone I wanted to have doing the [music for the] movie, so we have Hans Zimmer. Joe has been amazing at including me in everything.
What types of things in the screenplay made you call bullshit?
It would just be racing scenarios. Technical jargon engineers would talk. But particularly racing scenarios and sequences between overtakes and pit stops and strategies and all those sorts of things. There may have been a crash that was like the car hits the wall and flips and lands on the wheels and keeps going, and that doesn’t happen in Formula 1.
When you were prepping for the movie, did you ever get out on the track with Brad Pitt to check out his driving? If so, how’d he do?
Yeah. We went to a track in LA. I took him out and sat in the passenger seat, and he drove. I used to be a driving coach when I was younger. It was a way of making some money part time whilst I was racing. So I’ve sat with God knows how many non-racing drivers. You can tell immediately the good ones, the bad ones. Straight away he was on it. You could tell he has it. He has it in his DNA. He’s just not been able to hone in on it like we have. But he’s got big potential.
So you’re confident he can give a realistic performance as a driver?
Yeah, but I think obviously it takes time. Ultimately, the story of a 50-odd-year-old jumping into the season and fighting against us youngsters—it’s just not the done thing. But then there’s discussing: How would you go about doing that? How much training would you have to do in order to really be able to come back and fight and react in the same way? Yeah, there’s a lot of detail that went into it.
How have you changed up your training routine over the years to stay fresh and competitive?
You definitely adapt always, and you learn you have to just watch your energy. Recovery is huge, a really big part of the process. It’s the whole 360 thing. It’s not just going to the gym. It’s how much you stretch, how much physio you end up doing, what you eat. And that’s constantly changing week by week. And obviously, depending on how much energy you have, the different time zones that you’re in.
You travel so much for your sport. Do you have rituals or secrets to make yourself comfortable when you arrive?
Not really. I listen to a lot of music. I have music set up in my room. I record music. Basically, I write and sing music. Different sorts of R&B. So I record music at night. Often in my evenings, I read. Try to meditate, mostly in the mornings. But I don’t always get to it. And then I’m focused on my sleep. Try not to slack on that ever. So there’s a cutoff time when I want to go to bed depending on what time I need to be up the first day.
In working with a partner like the Ritz-Carlton, you have a chance to do different kinds of events, like the Almave tasting we just had. Any favourite experiences?
We were just talking about this the other day. In Mexico City I went to visit a school and see the kids. I love when I work with partners that are doing practical stuff. I think that’s been a real shift. When I first joined Formula 1, we were working with partners, but less so in the human-connection space. In the last five or six years, working with partners like the Ritz-Carlton, it’s “What impact are you making? How do you give back?” When we go to a school, see youth, and see that they’re invested in children, for me, that brings real warmth to my heart. Especially as my foundation is all about getting youth who won’t have the opportunity, for example, to get into our sport, to get into STEM and channel through to a good career.
“I want to really max it out while I can and fully enjoy this sport I’ve done my whole life.”
Do you have a time frame for your career? You’re going to be starting a new process with a new team next year. Do you have a plan for how long you’d like to keep racing?
I definitely do. There are days I’m like, shoot, I don’t know how much longer I can go. There are days I’m like, shoot, I’d love a break, a proper break, because you don’t get a real big break in the season like other sports. You don’t finish until mid to late December, and then you’re back into training already in January, and that’s two times a day you’re training. There are another couple of hours of therapy that you’re doing during that time as well. So you’re not really getting a huge amount of downtime. And in February, you’re flat out running until December.
That sounds pretty gruelling.
But I do have mentally a plan of where I would like to extend to. I’ve just got to strategize and sequence things. I’m very much about sequencing, like looking at brands that I collaborate with, companies that I’m essentially starting, how I manage my time between all those, and how I’m able to dedicate myself to this job still. Is there a time when I’m not all in and I’m just not in love with it anymore? That’s the moment that hopefully never happens, in the sense that I’ve fallen out of love with it. But I will know when I need to stop.
You’ll feel it.
I want to make sure I really max it out while I can and fully enjoy this sport I’ve done my whole life. There are so many people that have finished their careers early, and I’ve spoken to many who’ve said they wish they could have just done one more year or two. And they’re like, “Stay in as long as you can!” But I don’t want to do it if I’m not good. So it’s like, how much do you want to train? When you’re twenty-two, it’s so easy to work out and be fit. There’s no recovery and you’ve got nothing else going on, no other stresses, no real responsibilities except for that one thing to go and kill. Now it’s: How can you stay sharp and be able to do all those things you have going on, and still be able to compete with those young guys in their twenties?
Does it give you particular pleasure to beat the young guys?
Not particularly. I’m super competitive naturally. I don’t care who it is. I just want to win.
No matter who it is you’re competing against.
Yeah. When I won the other day, I didn’t think anything about anybody else. I just thought about my team. I thought about people that were with me. People that have sacrificed their time away from their families. People who were giving that extra bit of time in their day when they could have left early to go home and see the kids, and they’ve given that extra time to build these parts that got us that result. That’s who I think about.
