Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Recommended for you

Colton Herta admits IndyCar absence "hurts a bit" during F2 season

Formula 1
Miami GP
Colton Herta admits IndyCar absence "hurts a bit" during F2 season

Ferrari on WEC changes: 'With the BoP hidden, part of the race story will be missing'

WEC
Imola
Ferrari on WEC changes: 'With the BoP hidden, part of the race story will be missing'

Current street course woes make Long Beach “a critical weekend” for Graham Rahal

IndyCar
Long Beach
Current street course woes make Long Beach “a critical weekend” for Graham Rahal

Ott Tanak lands 2027 WRC car testing role with Toyota

WRC
Rally Croatia
Ott Tanak lands 2027 WRC car testing role with Toyota

"Ocean's Eleven" prequel to be set around 1962 Monaco Grand Prix

Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
"Ocean's Eleven" prequel to be set around 1962 Monaco Grand Prix

O'Ward: F1 has become an "artificial" show, while IndyCar is where the real racing is

IndyCar
Long Beach
O'Ward: F1 has become an "artificial" show, while IndyCar is where the real racing is

Pedro Acosta explains what KTM needs to close the gap to Aprilia in MotoGP

MotoGP
Pedro Acosta explains what KTM needs to close the gap to Aprilia in MotoGP

Alpine’s 2026 F1 form no surprise to Racing Bulls

Formula 1
Alpine’s 2026 F1 form no surprise to Racing Bulls
Breaking news

Hamilton wants FIA talks over young drivers' education

Five-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton fears young drivers risk compromising their education too much and intends to talk with FIA president Jean Todt on the matter.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 in parc ferme

Hamilton wants to help aspiring racing drivers who are taken out of school in pursuit of a career as a driver and then have little to fall back on if they do not succeed.

The Mercedes driver said he is aware of the impression F1 stars can make on young children because he sees the same "sparkle" in the eyes of those he encounters as he had as a youngster meeting David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen at McLaren.

"I just want to keep on driving hard and keep encouraging kids," said Hamilton. "Hopefully I'm going to meet with Jean at some stage, because I feel there is some positive impact that we can have on young kids that are at school.

"A lot of kids that are racing don't have an education or don't get an education. Parents take the kids out of school to focus on trying to get that ultimate and then when it doesn't happen you fall flat on your back.

"Obviously winning a championship is a great thing, but hopefully I can work on that with Jean, so that with these kids, even if they don't make it to Formula 1, or as another racing driver, they can be an engineer.

"There are thousands of people within these teams, there are so many opportunities within all these organisations, so that's something I want to get involved in."

Read Also:

Hamilton's fear that young drivers are compromising their education echoes that of Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey, voiced in late-2014.

Then, Newey said that he wanted more to be done by governing bodies to stop young children, like his son Harrison at the time, from potentially threatening their efforts at school by testing and racing.

Hamilton said he knows that he is "always going to be remembered as a racing driver" but has other off-track ideas he hopes to use his platform to implement.

"This great sport and this great opportunity that I have had has created a great foundation and an opportunity for me to do other things," said Hamilton.

"I've always been one to want to have some positive impact; I don't want to be just taking, taking, taking.

"I want to be doing some positive things for the future.

"So, if I want to be remembered for anything it's by building a school, whether it's encouraging education, whether it's just helping people get through difficult times.

"It's kind of difficult to put it into words but naturally I don't want my time on Earth to mean nothing."

Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso, Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, Sergio Perez, Force India, some junior Kart racers

Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso, Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, Sergio Perez, Force India, some junior Kart racers

Photo by: LAT Images

Previous article Red Bull given fuel boost for 2019 Honda debut
Next article Raikkonen: Harsher penalties would curb "stupidity" in F1

Top Comments

Latest news