Lewis Hamilton: "As a kid I wanted to be Superman not Ayrton Senna"

Lewis Hamilton has revealed the inspiration that led him to become a Formula 1 driver, but reckons his five-year-old self would have preferred to be a superhero.

Hamilton, who secured his third F1 title at the US Grand Prix earlier this season, became interested in motor racing after getting involved with radio-controlled model car contests as a child.

In a new video launched today (below) the three times champion said: “Where we lived in Hatfield, there was a guy [who lived] opposite and he would build models and he had a radio-controlled car.

“I must have been four and this thing was super fast. He came over and let me have a go at it and my Dad couldn’t believe I was so good at it. I was bombing up and down the driveway with this thing and that’s where my Dad first saw that I was pretty awesome at it. So he bought me one.”

“In the countryside there was a farm where they would do radio-controlled racing, I don’t know how [my Dad] found it, probably through the model shop. I went [along] and I must have been the youngest by at least ten years and that’s when racing started.”

Hamilton has often described his fellow three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna as his F1 idol, but the Mercedes driver admitted he would have wanted to become Superman if given the choice as a child.

He said: "I think when I was around five years old I started watching Formula 1 and I wanted to be Superman or Ayrton Senna.

“I would have preferred to have been Superman because that would have been pretty cool, but that’s not possible. Of course I never knew that I was going to end up being a Formula 1 driver.”

Hamilton also explained that his self-belief has been the key to his success and urged anyone with ambitions to never to give up on their dreams.

He said: “If there is something you really, really want to do, don’t let anybody tell you [that] you can’t do it. Don’t let any grown up tell you that you can’t do it. I had schoolteachers and other kid’s parents tell me that I wasn’t ever going to amount to anything.

“Never lose that belief in yourself because, fortunately for me, I was able to hold that belief in myself for my whole life. That belief is what got me to where I am today.”