Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton appeared at the 2020 Dubai Expo following the end of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain last Saturday.
The possibility of winning an eighth world championship was put on the table and what it would mean for him, breaking the current record of seven that he shares with Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton said it would be “amazing” to reach a milestone that no other driver has achieved before going on to talk about what it would mean to his family and revealing his plans to incorporate his mother’s surname into his name.
“It would mean a lot to my family,” Hamilton said. “I am very proud of my family name, Hamilton. Perhaps no one knows that my mother’s name is Larbalestier, and I am about to include it in my name.”
“I don’t fully understand the idea that when people get married the woman loses her name. My mother wants me to continue to carry the Hamilton name,” he continued.
The British pilot commented that “hopefully and that the change takes place soon”, and that “he was working on it”. Currently, his name is Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, but it seems that it will not last long after the statements of the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton’s mother, Carmen Larbalestier , has been to several races throughout his career, and attended his Sirship ceremony at Windsor Castle last December. However, someone who has been a regular in the paddock during the seven-time champion’s stay in Formula 1, his father, Anthony Hamilton , did not attend, and has been separated from the driver’s mother since he was a child.
Following his appearance at Expo 2020, Hamilton will return to Bahrain in the coming days before the start of the 2022 season, for which he has already discussed Mercedes’ chances of fighting for victory.
The German outfit had a tough second week of testing, prompting the Englishman to say on Saturday that “at the moment, I didn’t think they were going to compete for wins.”
Hamilton revealed in Dubai that he was going to have a meeting with the Mercedes engineers later today, as they continue to analyze all the test data: “I hope that when I finish the call this afternoon, they have found some tricks, some ways to get more out of this car.
“There are many single-seaters that are showing their faces,” he said. “Alfa Romeo seemed fast, as did Valtteri [Bottas]. Red Bull seems very fast too, like the Ferraris, but we are the best team, without a doubt.”
