“I Wanted to Go Down This Road of Discovery”: Lewis Hamilton Reveals the “Slave Story” Behind the Origin of His Reputed Surname

Being the only black driver on the grid, Lewis Hamilton has undoubtedly inspired a lot of young kids. He has also paved the way for a diverse workplace in Mercedes, as well as the F1 paddock. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Hamilton discusses the heritage of his family.

The Mercedes driver has been finding his form of late on the race track. He finished 2nd in the US GP and came closest to winning the first race of his and Mercedes’ 2022 season. However, Verstappen displayed why he was the world champion. The Dutch Lion, despite a poor pit stop, overtook Hamilton in the final few laps to win the race.

Speaking of his other ventures, Lewis Hamilton has also been busy off the racetrack. The Briton recently went to African during the summer break of F1. Moreover, in a recent interview, Lewis discusses what made him go down the discovery road to explore his African heritage and family name.

When asked about his culture and heritage, Lewis said, “It’s not until I’ve got into my 30s that I’ve wanted to go down this road of discovery, to try to understand, where did we get the Hamilton name? Where were we originally from?”

He further stated, “What I have discovered is how we got the Hamilton name. He was a slave owner from Scotland, Robert Hamilton, who then had a plantation, had around 150 slaves, and obviously at some stage then the slaves took on the name of the slave owner.

Hamilton concluded, “There was another slave-owner whose second name was Davidson, so my grandad ended up being called Davidson-Hamilton, both of which I have in my name, so that’s pretty cool just to know a little bit about that.”

READ MORE: After the Transforming Africa Trip, Lewis Hamilton Reveals His Plans for the Next Trip: “I’m Dying to Go…”

Lewis will be hoping to end the season on a bright note. Furthermore, he would be pleased after scoring back-to-back 2nd place finishes in the US and Mexico.

Lewis Hamilton explains how the African trip put things into perspective for the Mercedes star

Things have not been going according to plan for Mercedes this year. They have been caught out by FIA’s new regulations and their rivals have taken advantage of that. Their 8-year dominance at the top ended last week as Red Bull was crowned the constructor’s champions. Amidst the chaos, their star driver Lewis Hamilton explains how his mid-season trip to Africa changed him.

The Mercedes star feels that people are living in a bubble nowadays. Furthermore, Lewis said that sitting at home and watching the news makes the feeling worse.

Lewis said, “That experience of going to Africa, seeing people with so little – I say so little but they also have everything, they’re so happy – but just seeing a different way of living.”

He also mentioned, “We accumulate too much stuff, we eat too much food, the things that we take for granted, people don’t have that luxury and I think it’s really great to have that experience to put things into perspective.”

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It’s safe to say the trip to Africa has worked wonders for the Mercedes driver. He’s been performing consistently on a high-level post-summer break. Can Lewis Hamilton get over this season’s disappointment and mount a title challenge against Red Bull and Max Verstappen?