When Lewis Hamilton was 10 years old, he approached Mclaren team principal Ron Dennis and told him that one day he was going to race for him and Mclaren. Soon his stellar performance in the karting competitions then got him a place in the Mclaren driver development support programme and he was also given a contract as well as an F1 seat in the future.

After missing out on the World Championship title by just a point in 2007 to Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen, Hamilton took the 2008 championship ahead of Räikkönen's teammate Felipe Massa in the title decider showdown at the Brazilian GP.

Lewis Hamilton was conferred the title of a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen in 2009.