Hamilton planning to change name to include mother's surname

Mercedes F1 driver Hamilton appeared at Expo 2020 in Dubai today following the end of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain on Saturday.

Hamilton was asked about the possibility of winning an eighth world championship and what that would mean to him, pulling clear of the current record of seven that he shares with Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton said it would be "mind-blowing" to reach a landmark that no other driver has before going on to discuss what it would mean to his family, before revealing plans to incorporate his mother's surname into his name.

"It would mean the world to my family," Hamilton said. "I'm really proud of my family's name, Hamilton. None of you might know that my mum's name is Larbalestier, and I'm just about to put that in my name.

"Because I don't really fully understand the whole idea of when people get married that the woman loses her name.

"My mum, I really want her name to continue on with the Hamilton name."

Hamilton said the change would happen "hopefully soon" and that he was "working on it". Hamilton's current full name is Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, in the Press Conference

Photo by: FIA Pool

Hamilton's mother, Carmen Larbalestier, has appeared at a number of races throughout his career, and attended a ceremony Windsor Castle in December when he was knighted. His mother and father, Anthony Hamilton, split up when he was a child.

Following his appearance at Expo 2020, Hamilton will return to Bahrain in the coming days ahead of the F1 season-opener, for which he has already talked down Mercedes' chances of fighting for victory.

The team endured a difficult second test last week, prompting Hamilton to say on Saturday that "at the moment, I don't think we'll be competing for wins".

Hamilton revealed in Dubai that he was due to have a call with engineers from Mercedes later today as they continue to analyse all of the data from testing.

"I'm really hoping that when I get off this call this evening, they've found some tricks, found some ways to extract more out of this car," Hamilton said.

"There's a lot of cars that are looking quite fast. Alfa Romeo were looking fast, Valtteri [Bottas] was looking quick.

"Obviously the Red Bull looks ridiculously fast at the moment, and the Ferraris.

"But we are the best team, undoubtedly."