The evolving lifestyle of a world champion

Lewis Hamilton is a global superstar, as well as an extraordinary Formula 1 driver, thus managing his time properly can be difficult. Rather than attempt to control this process, Mercedes has increasingly allowed Hamilton to follow his own nose, invest more of his own time in the things he wants to do, to train his own way, structure his life on his own terms, and both parties have reaped the rewards.

Hamilton is conscious of the need to balance his time properly between F1 and his other interests, and not allow these other aspects of his life to become a distraction. Outside the car he is still pushing as hard as ever, but also doing things more on his own terms.

“I just wanted to go back to my roots – up until F1 I didn’t have a trainer and did all my training on my own,” says Hamilton. “It was about trying to get back to finding that within myself, because when you have a trainer they’re whispering, hanging around, they nag you, push you, which is all good, but you can get complacent and lazy because you rely on something and I wanted to get away from that.”

Hands-off management seems to have helped Hamilton get more out of himself than ever this year, as has his decision to shift to a vegan diet, which he announced around the time of September’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Adopting particular diets can have a transformative effect on athletes. Tennis star Novak Djokovic famously improved his game significantly after discovering he was intolerant to gluten and adopting a gluten-free diet.

“I do have more energy, but before I had more than enough energy anyway,” says Hamilton of his decision to go vegan. “I just feel cleaner. I don’t feel bogged down, don’t have problems with my stomach like I used to have. It’s hard to stay on the diet I’m on, [and] it’s actually really weird, once you get across that side. The other day I was at dinner and my friends were eating meat and I look at it and I’m disgusted – and I used to love meat!”

There is moral as well as physical purpose in Hamilton’s lifestyle choice, and what’s good for the mind and soul can be just as beneficial as what’s good for the body.

“I met people, friends, who were vegans, who exposed me to some of the things that were happening that I was completely oblivious to,” Hamilton adds. “It affected me so much when I saw these things, so bit by bit I weaned [myself] off it.

“I came off red meat two and a half years ago, stopped eating chicken at the start of this year and was pescatarian, then the final thing was seeing this one documentary. I’d seen a couple, but this one was, ‘OK, I’m done’. It does change your life. I feel the best I’ve ever felt.”

“It changes your life [being vegan]. I feel the best I’ve ever felt”