11. Sir Lewis Hamilton

Born on January 7, 1985, Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng is a British racing driver competing in Formula One for Mercedes. Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have won seven World Drivers’ Championship titles, a record. Sir Lewis also holds the records for the most wins (103), pole positions (103) and podium finishes (191).

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When Lewis was only eight, he sat in a kart for the first time and was immediately hooked on racing. The British teenager’s immense skill was quickly recognized by Mercedes-Benz, who joined as one of his sponsors early in his career.

Not only was Lewis incredibly fast on the track, but he also moved up the career ladder at an impressive rate. In 1997, McLaren Mercedes enlisted him in their Young Driver Program after he crushed the opposition in every karting division and won the Champions of the Future series. He switched to British Formula Renault in 2001 and won the championship two years later.

Lewis kept winning races in the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the junior championship in his second year and then moved on to the GP2 Series with ART Grand Prix. Lewis won the Championship despite being a rookie. He won five races on his way to the title. This achievement resulted in his rapid promotion to Formula One, the highest level of motor racing.

On March 18, 2007, at 22, Lewis made his Formula One debut with McLaren Mercedes alongside Fernando Alonso, the reigning World Champion. Even though he was young, he was still in the running for the title until the last race of the season in Brazil, where he raced against top drivers with a lot more experience. Lewis broke a number of records in his first season, including the most race victories, pole positions, and points scored in a rookie campaign.

In 2008, his exceptional career reached new heights with a Formula One World Championship victory. Lewis was 23 years, nine months, and 26 days old when he won the title, making him the youngest Formula One World Champion ever. Lewis won the championship on the penultimate lap of the decisive race in Brazil after making a late pass for fifth place, making it undoubtedly one of the most thrilling championship races in F1 history.

After six successful years with McLaren Mercedes, Lewis was ready for a new challenge. For the 2013 season, he joined the works Mercedes team. In his second race with the team, Lewis won his first podium in a Mercedes Formula One car at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Eight races later, Lewis achieved his first victory in Hungary, which enabled him to finish fourth in the Drivers’ standings overall.

Formula One entered a new era in 2014, as Lewis won his second World Drivers’ Championship title thanks to 11 victories and 16 podium finishes. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the season-long conflict with teammate Nico Rosberg abruptly ended. The following season, Lewis mounted a strong title defence that resulted in 10 victories and seventeen podium finishes — the route to his third Drivers’ championship, equalling the legendary Ayrton Senna and countryman Sir Jackie Stewart.

Lewis accomplished comparable success throughout the 2016 season, claiming the most race victories (10) and pole positions (12) of any driver. The Brit maintained his chances of winning the World Championship alive until the season’s last weekend in Abu Dhabi. Still, he finally had to settle for second place behind his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Lewis was under pressure from Sebastian Vettel in 2017, trailing the Ferrari driver for the first half of the season before a spectacular run of form propelled him to the Championship lead at the Italian Grand Prix. Lewis finished the year with the most race wins (10) and pole positions (11) of any driver, securing his fourth World Championship in Mexico with two rounds remaining.

The subsequent season was challenging, with Lewis and Ferrari’s Vettel battling for the first position in the 2018 standings. However, Lewis grabbed control of the championship race in the second part of the season, winning his fifth Drivers’ Championship in Mexico and finishing the year with 11 victories and 17 podium finishes.

Lewis followed this in 2019 by winning his sixth Formula One championship, earning the trophy at the United States Grand Prix with two rounds remaining. He also scored the most points in a season, matching his previous highs for podium finishes (17) and wins (11). The conclusion in Abu Dhabi marked his 250th start in a race.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the 2020 season was difficult, marked by several calendar adjustments. Throughout the year, Sir Lewis beat Michael Schumacher’s record for most F1 race wins, and at the Turkish Grand Prix, he tied Michael’s record for most world titles with his seventh Drivers’ Championship.

Hamilton and Max Verstappen of Red Bull were the title favourites early in the 2021 season. The two drivers regularly exchanged the championship lead throughout the season, often battling (and occasionally colliding) on the track. They approached the final race in Abu Dhabi, tied in points. Verstappen passed Hamilton in Abu Dhabi on the last lap of the race, depriving Hamilton of his eighth victory. During the season, Hamilton surpassed 100 pole positions and 100 race victories, respectively, becoming the first driver to do so.

After losing Bottas as a teammate, Lewis Hamilton partnered with George Russell in 2022. Significant revisions were made to the season’s technical regulations to increase downforce using the ground effect. During preseason testing in Bahrain, Mercedes debuted their “zero sidepod” car design, which was vastly different from its rivals. Early in the season, the Mercedes W13 experienced severe porpoising, which reduced the car’s ability; at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton declared the car “undrivable.” Hamilton finished the season with nine podium finishes but no race victories or pole positions for the first time in his Formula One career. He finished the drivers’ championship in sixth place, 35 points behind Russell, who finished fourth.