Fast Times With Lewis Hamilton

Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton might be the greatest driver of all time, but his passions extend well beyond the racetrack. At 31, he’s finding new gears in fashion, music and business

- Bill Saporito

What started as a Formula 1 race ended in a lovefest. At the British Grand Prix on the famous Silverstone circuit, Lewis Hamilton, England’s best driver, led flag-to-flag over a rain-splotched course that turned the surface into a skating rink. Within 10 laps of the soggy start, though, Hamilton had gained a five-second advantage—an eternity in F1—leaving rivals in the rearview of his rooster-tailing Mercedes W07 Hybrid Silver Arrow.

The 31-year-old champion from the south of England demonstrated once again why he is the top race car driver in the world. “It was a pretty unreal weekend,” he tells me on his ride back to London from a meeting at Mercedes team headquarters in the Northamptonshire countryside. “Very tricky conditions, and it was the biggest race of the year for me. Pressure was as high as it can be: huge. I needed to perform at my best.”

Hamilton is a three-time Formula 1 world champion who, for the past three seasons, has driven for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. The FI circuit consists of 21 races worldwide, from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Austin, Texas, including such legendary courses as Monte Carlo, Monza, Italy, and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium but also races in Russia, Canada, China, Singapore, Australia and Brazil. F1 is auto racing’s most popular circuit, featuring the most sophisticated cars, technology and fan appeal— the cultured European cousin to NASCAR’s fender-banging, paint trading Americans. F1’s cars, not to mention its drivers, are exquisite, expensive and glamorous.