Birth name Lewis Carl David Hamilton

Birthday 7 January 1985

Star sign Capricorn

Birthplace Stevenage, Hertfordshire

F1 star Lewis Hamilton was born to dad Anthony Hamilton and mum Carmen Larbalestier in 1985.

His parents split when he was 2. He has two half-sisters and a younger half-brother called Nicolas, who has cerebral palsy.

Lewis started karting when he was 8 and progressed through various championships. At 15 he was the youngest driver to be crowned Karting World No 1.

In 1998 he was signed to F1 team McLaren’s Young Driver Support Programme. After attending sixth form college in Cambridge, Lewis pursued his racing car career.

He worked his way up through Formula Renault, Formula Three and GP2 before making his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007.

Lewis Hamilton instantly showed promise and won his first race just three months into the season.

He narrowly missed out on winning the 2007 championship but his dreams came true the following year when he was crowned Formula One World Champion.

After his success Lewis was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2009.

In the following seasons Lewis and McLaren struggled to recapture the glory of his championship-winning year. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel dominated the sport.

Lewis Hamilton announced in 2012 that he was leaving McLaren to join Mercedes AMG Petronas in 2013.

The racing star had a successful first year with his new team; he earned four pole positions and scooped an impressive victory in Hungary.

Lewis experienced some problems in his personal life though. The F1 ace was devastated when he split from his girlfriend, singer Nicole Scherzinger, in the summer of 2013.

The pair had enjoyed an on-off relationship since 2008. They reunited again a few months after their break-up.

2014 was a good year for Lewis. Mercedes had a highly competitive car and, with several wins under his belt, he became locked in a fierce battle with teammate Nico Rosberg for the World Drivers’ Championship.