Lewis Hamilton: cool as ice

1/2

10 April 2012

Monaco has always been the most glamorous location on the Formula 1 circuit. The credit crunch may have forced the rest of the world to opt for a more discreet aesthetic; there, bling is still king.

And so it was naturally on that racetrack that current world champion Lewis Hamilton wore his new helmet, a present from the jewellers Steinmetz. This fetching creation, in his customary bright yellow racing colours, has a glittering diamond '1' adorning the crown. Monaco is the only racetrack that would permit him to wear it; jewelled helmets are banned elsewhere.

Hamilton has come a long way very fast. Born in Hertfordshire in 1985 and brought up in a council house in Stevenage, he was an enthusiastic go-kart racer from the age of seven, but his father had to take three jobs to support his burgeoning racing career. 'My drive and determination come from my father. I approach everything knowing I won't give up. I want to do it to the best of my abilities and I will always keep pushing, whatever it is. He is as relentless.'

That early investment paid off: Lewis was signed by McLaren when he was 12 years old. In 2008, in just his second Formula 1 season, he carried off the world championship, not only the first black driver but also the youngest to do so. His diamond accolade is richly deserved. But that sparkling reminder of last year's glories was probably small consolation to him as he was being lapped by fellow Brit Jenson Button, the eventual winner in Monaco.

In fact, Hamilton has had a pretty dismal season of it, what with being disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix in March, and his ties with McLaren reportedly under strain over that incident and over his car's inadequacies.

On the other hand, he certainly appreciates his rocks. 'I love having diamonds,' he says, when we meet prior to the race at McLaren's enormous Woking HQ, an extraordinary building worthy of a Bond villain's hideout. On one side of the cavernous steel and stone entrance hall, internal glass windows give on to eerie white laboratories, where hundreds of men can be seen toiling over the skeletons of racing cars.

Lewis, who is small, handsome and fresh-faced, is posing perched on a scarlet car, with his glittery headgear on his knee, facing a barrage of photographers with relaxed aplomb. He doesn't normally wear any jewellery to race, he tells me. 'I always take off my watch and my ring, and everything else I can; maybe there's just a gram of extra weight,' he says. For these diamonds, however, he's prepared to make an exception. But is the helmet inappropriate for the new age of austerity, I wonder? 'I don't believe in flaunting things,' he says. 'For a diamond-studded helmet, this is quite discreet.' Which is undeniably true, even if the concept sounds like something Elizabeth Taylor might have dreamed up.

'And I'd only wear it for a special event,' he goes on. What concerns him more than the appropriateness or otherwise of wearing bejewelled headgear is the provenance of the diamonds themselves. 'That's a big factor for me: I have to have faith that the ones I wear have been responsibly sourced.'

Off the track, he's just as keen on a bit of glitter. He has one spectacular ring, also a present from Steinmetz, twinkling on his finger. And last year, he was presented with a diamondstudded watch by TAG Heuer to mark his winning the world championship. 'That's lovely,' he says. 'Nobody else in the world has one like it. I used to have pierced ears, but I took out the earrings for racing and the holes closed up. Personally, I like wearing a ring, a watch and maybe a bracelet.' This modest collection may well be about to expand, since Steinmetz are hoping in future to collaborate with Hamilton on designing a jewellery collection, although, as yet, Lewis doesn't seem to know anything about it.

When he buys diamonds himself, the lucky recipients are the women in his life: his mother, stepmother and, naturally, his Pussycat Dolls girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. The petite and perfectly formed pair met at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich in November 2007 and have been inseparable ever since.

Perhaps that's not surprising, since Lewis seems to be a generous fellow. 'I have very expensive tastes,' he goes on, 'and when I buy gifts, I always want the best I can get for the price. I don't think that's a bad thing.

'Nicole's a woman, so she loves having gifts and I love buyin' 'em,' he continues jovially. 'The nicest thing I've bought her was a rose-gold diamond-encrusted ring from Louis Vuitton, which,' he adds hastily, spotting a speculative gleam in my eye, 'she wears on her right hand.' So he won't be buying an engagement ring any time soon? 'No, I'm way too young for that,' he says (at 24, he's seven years Scherzinger's junior), 'and it's way too early for us.'

Hamilton's day job requires him to wear a jumpsuit that carries more logos than a Piccadilly Circus billboard (Mobil, Santander, Vodafone, FedEx, Hugo Boss). 'It's comfortable,' he says, 'but I don't think it looks great...'

Perhaps it's not surprising that when he's not racing, labels don't mean very much to him. 'My personal style fluctuates a lot,' he says. 'I wear casual clothes and tracksuits. Really, I like being comfortable.'

(Right) Lewis Hamilton at McLaren's Woking HQ, May 2009

As someone who spends much of his time wedged into a tiny aperture, he also dislikes feeling constricted off-duty. 'I hate wearing shirts or tight jeans,' he confesses. That's not to say that he's not prepared to make an effort out on the town. 'If I'm going to an event, I like to wear a nice, crisp, fresh suit,' he says. 'And I like to add a little bit. It doesn't feel so good unless you have a watch or a nice sparkly ring on.'

He's friendly with Naomi Campbell, and rather in demand as a fashion model himself. Indeed, the day before the big race, he was so determined to arrive on time for Petra Ecclestone's catwalk show, where he was modelling her label, Form, in aid of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, that he actually took a speedboat around the coast to avoid the Monte Carlo roadblocks, and arrived with a minute to spare. 'We didn't know whether he was going to make it or not,' says an insider, 'and suddenly there he was, legging it up the jetty, shouting, "Quick! Where's my jacket?" ' He then coolly strutted his stuff in front of an audience that included Princess Beatrice, Prince Albert of Monaco, Boris Becker and Elizabeth Hurley, before heading back to concentrate on the race.

Despite such fashion credentials, his own style is inspired by music, he says. 'I think Pharrell and P Diddy have great style. I'm not talking about the bling, but they never wear tight stuff, they look cool.' His preferred designer label is Hugo Boss, of course. 'I work with them, so for the last few years they've given me some nice clothes.' The last thing he bought himself was a cashmere scarf and hat in New York.

Hamilton lives in a small three-bedroom apartment in Geneva and keeps his clothes in two small wardrobes. 'All my stuff is neatly piled in there,' he says (he does look like a bit of a neat freak). 'It's all Hugo Boss and Reebok.

'My style hasn't fundamentally changed over the years,' he goes on. 'I like things basic, you know? Sometimes I think it's kind of a shame. People who like the attention would be doing a lot more in the position I'm in.' In fact, the luxury item of his heart's desire would be neither fashion nor jewel-related, but (another) car. 'There's one that I've always wanted to have,' he says, a look of longing entering his Marmite-brown eyes. 'It's an orange McLaren F1 LM. They don't sell them any more, so the only way I'll get that car is if I win three world championships.' That must be a pretty good incentive to make Jenson Button eat his dust.

Lewis Hamilton: cool as ice

Read More