Lewis Hamilton

Illustration of Lewis' Helmet (f1fanatic.co.uk)

Formula One is arguably the highest tier of motorsport and I believe that all of the drivers involved in it are inspirations to aspiring race car drivers and many others. Personally, the one driver that sticks out to me the most is Lewis Hamilton, driver in team Mercedes AMG-Petronas, because he's the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in a Formula One drive. At the age of thirteen, he signed the contract to later become a Formula One driver for McLaren. This is truly inspiring, especially for young people whose goals are to climb the motorsport ladder and eventually obtain a seat in a Formula One car.

Hamilton with McLaren team boss, Ron Dennis (DailyMail.com)

Lewis Hamilton began racing in 1993, at the age of eight. He raced at the Rye House Kart Circuit in England and quickly began winning races and championships. In 1995, at the age of ten, he approached the McLaren team boss at the time, Ron Dennis, and asked for his autograph while also stating that he one day would like to race his cars. In response to this, Dennis told him to call him in nine years and they'll "sort something out" then. Surprisingly enough, after Hamilton won his 2nd British championship, Dennis called him and signed him to the McLaren driver development program. He was only 13-years-old at this time! This is what made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract that later resulted in a F1 drive. 

Hamilton became the first ever black driver to race in Formula One, already securing two records in this motorsport. But he went on to set several more records. In 2007, his first season, he was just one point behind Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari driver, which had him finish the 2007 Formula One Championship in second place. The following year, 2008, he won the World Championship which made him the youngest Formula One World Champion at the time. Later to be taken by current Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel. In 2015, while driving with team Mercedes, Lewis became the first British driver to win consecutive F1 titles. With no surprise at all, he is also the first driver in the history of F1 to have made podium (top 3) after starting in 20th place or lower at least 3 times. He has the most race victories of all other British drivers and has the second highest grand prix wins at 54, behind Michael Schumacher at 91.

Lewis Hamilton celebrating a Singapore GP win (DailyMail.com)

Lewis Hamilton is still setting records currently. He has recently secured three records last F1 season, 2016 and is looking to secure some more this 2017 F1 season. At the time of writing this, he is currently tied for 1st place in the World Championship with 43 points, right there with Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton has proved to be an inspiration with all of his records and race driver mentality. I believe this 2017 F1 season will be a real interesting one as Ferrari and Mercedes are going back and forth in terms of race positions. In conclusion, I believe that Lewis Hamilton will remain inspiring young aspiring drivers and followers.