When Hamilton Drove for Manor

Lewis Hamilton has endured another season of Formula One under the spotlight as Mercedes claimed another clean-sweep of Constructor and Driver titles. 

Mercedes are yet to announce the identity of Hamilton’s teammate for next season. One thing that is almost certain is that the Mercedes drivers will both be key protagonists when the Australian Grand Prix arrives in March. The British driver has already hit the reset button, his focus already on next year.

“I’m just looking forwards, so dwelling and thinking about past experiences is not something I need to do. Now I’ve just got to focus on next season. The focus now is on next year.”

– Lewis Hamilton

Dwelling on the immediate past probably wouldn’t be productive given the big shake-up expected ahead. But in an interview before the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton reminisced on the journey that got him to Formula One in the first place.

“We are all faced with adversity at some stage in our life and it’s how you deal with it that counts. I think for people who have just started tuning into Formula One or have just started following me, they probably have no idea about the grassroots of the sport that I came up through, they probably just think I drive for a top team, have a great car and they won’t know the foundation on which I perform.

But really what I do today is almost minuscule compared to the journey that I took to get here. That was Mount Everest and now I’m at the top and dancing around.”

– Lewis Hamilton

After a successful career in karting, Hamilton’s first four years of car racing started with Manor Motorsport, who had teams in the Formula Renault and Formula 3 series. Hamilton and Manor dominated Formula Renault 2.0 in 2003 with 11 poles and 10 wins over 15 races.

Hamilton has since become a supernova in the Formula One world and beyond, but the commonality that all drivers share is a culmination of mass effort from teams and an environment with an undying need to compete.

The Manor name still survives in Formula One, but the Manor Motorsport that allowed Hamilton to climb the ladder were removed with the takeover that occurred at the team in 2015.