Hamilton getting better with age, thanks to unusual role model

Lewis Hamilton no longer sweats the small stuff and as a result, he’s become more dangerous than ever. It’s all thanks to little bro Nicolas.

To put it bluntly, Lewis Hamilton is killing it this season. He turned water into wine by transforming his 43-point deficit to rival Nico Rosberg to a 19-point advantage and looks to be on the cusp of his third consecutive world title. Hard to imagine that just a few years ago, this would hardly have been the case. Lewis Hamilton was not someone who could be said to have tremendous mental fortitude as a younger man. As he confessed himself, he was the kind of guy who sequestered himself away in a hotel room for days when things got bad on the track. So what changed? And who brought about that change?

Dr said that he'd never walk, now @nicolashamilton’s a professional racing driver https://t.co/NB6xNp2nTR #30toWatch pic.twitter.com/AARE5lPKja

— Scope (@scope) June 16, 2016

“I think it’s definitely a part of growing and seeing the age that I am, but I think it’s also interpreting other people’s struggles.

“You know many people have difficult times, but my brother… seeing him grow up, whether we played basketball or football, it’s easy for me to kick around a ball and then my brother would trip, fall over.

“It’s easy to run around him because he obviously can’t move his legs like that. He’d fall over, get back up and never once ever complained, never complained that he couldn’t get the ball off you, or I was whooping his butt.

“He just keeps getting up and keeps trying harder and I guess that’s probably coming into real use, that kind of experience.

“I think also now I’m just in a place in my life where as you grow older your priorities shift and you understand what’s it and what’s not and you don’t get caught up in the unimportant things.”

Lewis Hamilton

You see, though Nicolas Hamilton is also an F1 driver, he will never give Lewis a run for his money on the track. The younger Hamilton suffers from cerebral palsy, making it necessary for him to use a special car that accommodates his disabilities. But we think that he’s achieved something just as special as his older sibling; he’s become the role model of one of motorsports’ most celebrated champions. From his older brother’s personal anecdotes and the fact that he’s in F1 at all, we can tell that he’s not a guy who drowns in his circumstances and who throws himself into every sporting experience to the best of his ability. Just think about it, his doctors once told him that he’d never walk.

They always say that there’s a great woman behind every man. Can we replace that with great brother, in this instance?