F1 ace Hamilton reveals name change plans
Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed he wishes to change his name to include his mother's maiden name while challenging gender norms for married women.
The 37-year-old shed light on his plans at the 2022 Dubai Expo, and wants to see them realized "soon" so that he can race with his new name.
Yet any permanent changes aren't likely to be made ahead of the upcoming Formula One season set to kick off at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
"I'm really proud of my family's name, Hamilton," the Brit stressed.
"None of you might know that my mum's name is Larbalestier and I am just about to put that in my name.
"I don't fully understand the idea that when people get married the woman loses their name," said Hamilton, adding that he really wants "my mum to continue on with the Hamilton name" in reference to Carmen Larbalestier, now known as Carmen Lockhart, who separated from his father Anthony when Hamilton was just two years old.
Probed on when the change will take place, Hamilton answered: "Hopefully soon. We are working on it," and it is also unknown whether Hamilton will hyphenate his name to read something like 'Hamilton-Larbalestier' or what kind of order the names will appear in.
New car, new teammate, new year, new drive. @MercedesAMGF1pic.twitter.com/A72n5VhcgO
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 19, 2022
Photos of the group together suggest that there is a cordial relationship between Carmen and the couple formed by Hamilton's father and his stepmother Linda, whom Hamilton spent most of his time with growing up in Stevenage from the age of 12 onwards.
"It would mean the world to my family [to win a record eighth title]," Hamilton stressed on the eve of his 16th campaign in motorsport's most elite championship in which he aims to overtake Michael Schumacher's seven world championship triumphs.
Reports circled that Hamilton was close to retiring following a controversial climax to the 2021 season on the last day in Abu Dhabi where he was pipped to the post by Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton claimed that did not consider stepping down but "lost a little bit of faith" in F1's fair play policies following a safety car mix-up on the last lap after a crash which paved the way for Verstappen to be crowned champion and eventually led to Michael Masi being removed from his role as race director.
"While moments like this might define careers, I refuse to let this define mine," Hamilton said defiantly while confirming his comeback.
Also at the Dubai Expo, though, Hamilton admitted that "Bahrain is going to be tough" with last week's final test session prompting fears that current team Mercedes are behind Red Bull and Ferrari who purportedly have quicker vehicles.
"I am really hoping that when I get on the call this evening – with my team at Brackley and Brixworth – they have found some tricks and ways to extract more from this car," Hamilton said.
"There were a lot of cars that looked fast in testing. Alfa Romeo looked fast, Valtteri [Bottas] looked quick, and obviously the Red Bull looked ridiculously fast – but we are the best team," he boldly concluded.
