Hamilton embraces celebrity lifestyle
Each winter, three-time Formula AUSTIN One champion Lewis Hamilton spends time skiing with friends near his house in Aspen, Colo., then returns to the home’s theater room for a four-hour session of Call
of Duty, the popular video game. It’s a tradition he’s embraced for as long as the video game has been in production.
So when producers of the game invited him to appear in it, he didn’t hesitate.
“I was like, ‘Absolutely!’ ” Hamilton said. “It’s actually the only game I play.”
It’s just the life Hamilton, 31, leads these days, a mix of celebrity, sports and non-stop adventure.
Hamilton spoke to USA TODAY on the eve of the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, where he snatched his third world championship last year. The three-day event begins Friday with qualifying rounds and culminates Sunday with the race. He was in Austin early promoting a newly announced partnership between Epson and the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team for which Hamilton races.
Hamilton shared his thoughts on playing video games, making F1 more popular in the USA, chasing teammate Nico Rosberg for the championship and using his massive social media following to help others.
Hamilton, who has been driving for corporate teams since he was 13, roared on the F1 scene in 2007, breaking numerous records and narrowly finishing second in the standings. The next year, he won his first title at 23, becoming the then-youngest F1 champion in history and the first black driver to ever win a championship. (Hamilton’s mother is white and his father is black.)
But it’s Hamilton’s off-track life that has made him a household brand. He’s consistently on the cover of fashion magazines and a constant at movie premieres and parties. His on-again, off-again relationship with Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, ended last year, but he’s since been spotted with Kendall Jenner in Cannes and Monaco and Rihanna in Barbados during Carnival.
ranked him 49th of its 100 topearning celebrities this year at $46 million (tied with actress Jennifer Lawrence), and he has more than 11 million followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram combined.
“There has never been a Formula One driver who has taken F1 places like this,” said Jon Noble, Formula One editor at Motorsport.com. “Half the (racing) world loves it. Half the world doesn’t like it and thinks he should be focused on driving.
“On the track, there’s no question he’s one of the best F1 has ever seen.”
This year, however, has been a bumpy one for Hamilton. Bad starts and mechanical failures have cost him valuable points and a potential shot at a fourth championship. Rosberg leads Hamilton by 33 points with four races to go. Hamilton has never lost the championship to a teammate.
When he’s on the track, he’s focused on the other drivers and the clock, not Rosberg, Hamilton said.
“There are 21 other drivers I’m racing against,” he said.
Hamilton’s not just about racing and video games. Wedged between Facebook posts of his fashion shoots and car photos is a post urging followers to click on a UNICEF link to help victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and other Caribbean nations battered by the storm. Images of families torn apart by the storm were heartbreaking, he said.
“You think about those families, it always puts things into perspective,” Hamilton said. “If I lost a member of my family through something like that, it would just be devastating.
“I’m in a really fortunate position. I have access to millions of people by a click of a thumb. For me to ignore that and not utilize that would just be selfish.”