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Lewis Hamilton: "I want to do my own supercar"

TG speaks to Lewis about his road car ambitions, why F1 should be louder, and much more

  • As Mercedes pulled the wraps off its new AMG GT R supercar, it also gave us access to its (and Britain's) current world champion, Lewis Hamilton. It was a great opportunity to catch up with him away from the F1 paddock, where he was relaxed and brilliant fun to chat to.

    So join us on a tour through Lewis's car collection, why he pines for the return of V10s, his thoughts on safety, and a whole lot more.

    Including why you might soon be able to buy a shouty AMG sports car with his name on it...

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  • Lewis on… what he uses on the road

    I usually ride a motorbike. It’s what I always wanted to do. I wanted to ride motorbikes before I wanted to race cars. But my dad got me a go-kart, which I’m grateful he did, but as soon as I was able to buy something I got my bike licence and bought a bike.

    When I got to McLaren I had a Mercedes C300, and after I won my first Grand Prix I said “I think it’s time to give me an AMG,” so I got a CLK Black Series, so there was no need to buy anything myself. From then I always had Black Series models.

    The next year, the offer was if you won the first Abu Dhabi GP, you would get an SL Black Series. I was leading that Grand Prix and my car broke down, when I was miles ahead. So afterwards they said “you’ve been phenomenal all weekend, so we’re going to give you one anyway”. That car only has 200km on it, and I’ve had it since 2009!

    I do still get to enjoy my cars. Sometimes when I get home to Monaco I take a car out. But I always want to keep the mileage low on all my cars! So I don’t ever really go that far. Particularly in the cars I bought, like the Zonda, which was a serious investment.

  • Lewis on… what he enjoys in road cars

    I’m always waiting for the new and next thing to come out, always about that sexy look. So it’s the look, the sound, and I’m always looking for horsepower. Everyone wants big horsepower.

    Though actually, the Bugatti doesn’t do it for me. The Chiron does look good, the GT version especially. But I’m more old school and I like a V12; the Bugatti has two engines bolted together. Though it is amazing to drive. But I guess it’s just a personal feeling, taste.

    When you eventually save up and buy ‘that car’, or do whatever it is to get ‘that car’ you’ve had your eyes on, it’s the greatest feeling. My cars are my babies. I used to say, when I had a girlfriend, “I’m taking one of my girls out, so you can come if you want, but you come second when it comes to them…”

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  • Lewis on… making his own road car

    It’s already something that I’m speaking to Tobias Moers [head of AMG] about, something I want to get involved in. I love speccing cars up, I’m always getting into serious detail with my cars. With Mercedes they haven’t usually gone into the detail that I have [as standard options], so I have to find out if they can actually do those things I want.

    When they first brought the AMG GT R to me I had all these ideas! I was talking to Tobias, “you’ve got all this F1 technology, and you’ve got the world champion driving your car, let’s do something together”.

    At some stage I want to do my own car with them, like a GT LH or something like that. A limited edition series, which I can test, which I can setup, and which I can have a real hands-on approach with the design. When they eventually give me the budget to do so!

  • Lewis on… why old F1 cars are more exciting

    Sound is everything, especially the first time you start up a car. Unfortunately, now when you start up an F1 car, it doesn’t really do it as much as it used to. The old V10s and V8s used to make so much noise, you’d have to cover your ears in the garage. Now you can stand right next to the car while it’s idling.

    The drivability is amazing now, better than it’s ever been, and the power is as good, if not better. It’s rapid in a straight line but it’s the sound of a V10 I want. I’m always watching on-board videos of Montoya in the V10 era, and it just sounded amazing.

    The first time I drove a McLaren it was a V10, at the national circuit at Silverstone. I was waiting to shift and it just kept going and going and going, to 21,000rpm. It was insane, why would you change that?!

    Now I change at like 12,000rpm. We could do 15,000 but we don’t need it, so 12 or 13 is optimal. I like stick-shifts as well. I loved Formula 3, when I had to take my hand off the wheel, and use a real foot-clutch. It’s the way of cars now [the move to paddleshift], even road cars.

    I grew up a fan of the sport, overtaking is obviously what people love to see. And there’s probably not enough of it. Me, personally, when I first got to a Grand Prix I remember stepping on track and Schumacher came by and the sound roared into my ribcage. I was 11 years old. After that I was super hooked. Even more than when I’d been watching on TV.

  • Lewis on… how F1 could be more physical

    When I got to Formula 1, just in the first few months of testing, my neck grew an inch. I was struggling like crazy even though I’d done GP2 and lots of training. After 120 laps I couldn’t hold my head up. In these last years the cars have got easier, physically, to drive.

    I’d like to race in Formula 1 in the late 1980s. I want to race with Senna, but I like the cars better too. The manual gearbox, the lower downforce, more tyre performance, they’re a lot more physical.

    Drivers should be drained to the point we'd struggle to stand on the podium. Unfortunately, Formula 1 isn’t like that. It’s more mentally draining than anything. It’s so technical that people watching on TV don’t understand it; there’s no way you can unless you’ve come to the factory and study what we’ve studied. How much information we have to study and use while out on track is way more than necessary, I think.

  • Lewis on… what he’d like to race outside of F1

    Moto GP. They’re awesome. I love bikes. But I’ll probably be too old by then. One day I’d like to test a Moto GP bike, for sure.

    I don’t really have any desire to race anything else. The problem is once you step out of Formula 1, everything is a step down. It’s all downhill from there. Nothing is ever going to feel the same.

    Who knows? My opinion might change. I’ve been driving since I was 8 years old. When I stop racing I’ll probably going to get massive withdrawal symptoms, and I’m going to want to drive something.

    I have driven NASCAR and it was actually really quite fun. I’d quite like to do a NASCAR race for a bit of fun. I’d love in my mid-season to go and do a street race out there. It’s a completely different market.

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  • Lewis on… his lively hobbies

    Naturally sportsmen and women aren’t really allowed to do things. But when I was at McLaren I said “these are the things I’m most likely to do,” and when I joined this team I said “these are the things I do, I’m not going to stop”. I’m conscious I never ever want to watch someone else drive my car, but also I want to live my life and I try to be as sensible as I can while still having fun.

  • Lewis on… dealing with this season’s difficulties

    It’s definitely one of the toughest seasons I’ve had. Of course I’ve had worse seasons when I’ve not been competing for the championship. But this one has been difficult because we’ve had lots of reliability issues. And they don’t seem to be stopping.

    There’s nothing I can do about it. But I think you grow with the team, by winning the title you realise your place within the team, and I’ve realised how what I say to the camera is what the guys back at the factory hear me say. You realise you’re affecting all of those people with the things that you say. I’m also aware that these guys have helped me win two titles, so it’s keeping things in perspective when you’re losing. Which is the toughest thing for any competitor, especially when it’s out of your hands with a technical fault.

    But I’m sure as the year gets on, if [technical difficulties] continue, it will be harder to keep the brave face on. I want to win the championship more than ever, it’s in my DNA. That’s just how I’m wired.

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  • Lewis on… danger in the sport

    It’s incredible how safe Formula 1 is, all the work they’ve done since 1994 has been incredible, and it’s something that were always talking about. But danger is the exciting part for me. We get in the car and we know there’s that danger factor there.

    Growing up watching Niki Lauda and now getting to see him, I think he’s awesome, he drove in a time when people were dying on a yearly basis. We’ve lost a couple of great drivers in the last couple of years. So obviously I’m conscious of it. I think it is important for us in the sport to always be working on the development of safety.

    But danger is hopefully always going to be there, otherwise anyone could do it. They always talk about what splits the men from the boys. When you go to Monaco it’s awesome, because it’s the most dangerous track we have, and having the balls to go closer to the walls than the other guy is what’s able to separate us.

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