Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton gets very few complimentary tickets for friends and family to watch him race, as he pays for those closest to him each year.
In a recent interview on BBC Radio 1, he said, “It varies every year, one family member wants to come and the other ones stay home because they’ve been already. What’s crazy is that, I don’t ever get a lot of passes so I buy passes for family. You’d think you can get whatever you want, but it’s really not the case. People ask to come and I’m like ‘I only have two passes’.”
Although Hamilton makes sure his family sees these events, he does not have the opportunity to see them on race day. He added, “My family, I don’t ever get to see them before I’m in the car, I mean they’re massively supportive and probably it’s a lot of them.”
He continued, “I’m not sure if they’re [all] fully conscious of how dangerous what I do is. But they’re not fazed by it – my aunty will be like ‘Go do your thing, go get it!’”
Meanwhile, Hamilton’s single life is something of a mystery. While single, he has been seen with Rita Ora and Barbara Palvin, leading many to link them romantically in the past.
The professional driver says he enjoys spending time off with his family in Grenada as opposed to worrying about dating. He said, “What I do know is that I will head out to carnival, which I love, this year and being out in the Caribbean, which is where my dad’s side of the family is from. I feel very at home over there and it’s the music. Definitely gotta do that, maybe I’ll stay out there and see my grandad. I haven’t seen him for a long time and he’s getting old, he’s got dementia, I wanna make sure that I spend time with him even if he doesn’t remember who I am.”