Lewis Hamilton: The Most Incredible Athlete in the World

F1 drivers burn as much energy as someone running a half marathon, they sweat up to nine pounds, nine pounds, we don't even normally measure fluids in pounds, one gallon of saline weighs 8.6 pounds, that's like a gallon of sweat, I'd buy a gallon of Lewis Hamilton's sweat, it's new gamer girl, bath water, blah. Their bodies are twisted, pulled and smushed over and over again by up to eight G's of force, you know how much astronauts deal with? Three G's and you know what? Astronauts think they're so cool, guess what? They used to be. But now astronauts are the lamest in the world. Thanks Bezos you dork. How did you ruin astronauts bro? By the end of the race, drivers experience a decrease in brain function by up to 40% to combat this, elite F1 drivers, fine tune their nervous system through thousands and thousands of hours of practice. Not only can they stay chill and focused at 200 miles per hour, they can sense things regular humans don't. Lewis says that when he approaches a corner, everything slows down and his visual field widens, allowing him to see more than he can in regular life.

As an elite athlete myself, I can relate to this, when I see Nolan drinking milk, I see a three-year long joke, just spread out. So yeah, Formula One racing requires super human strength and endurance of both body and mind. And I don't wanna offend my millions of curling fans, but F1 drivers are the most incredible athletes in the world. So let's talk about what makes Lewis Hamilton, the best one.

(Lewis Hamilton theme music plays)

Lewis is known for breaking hard and late, which lets him blast out of a turn early, when the difference between first and second place is measured in seconds sometimes less than seconds, consistently breaking a quarter second later than your opponent really adds up. Now Lewis' dad taught him this when he was like nine years old - And it's like, you got to break here, not break where he's breaking, you'll break further and eventually I could break there, and that's quicker than everyone.

Lewis has an almost supernatural ability to dance a race car on the edge of grip. That means that he can push a car much harder than most drivers without wearing down the tires as much, there's data to support this, and it shows that Lewis' tires are sometimes five degrees cooler than his teammates, even though they're running nearly identical speeds. This took practice to perfect.

Lewis' early career is spotted with failures from pushing the car too far. Now this is pretty much never happens anymore, but pretty much never isn't the same as actual never, on the last lap of the 2020 British Grand Prix, Lewis' front tire gave up, he was three quarters of a lap away from victory with Red Bulls Max Verstappen 30 seconds behind him.

He knew if he could find the edge of his car's newly limited mechanical ability and ride it, he could still win, but if he pushed too hard, it would be over. So he had to slow it down, but how much? Two, butt clenching minutes later, Lewis took the checkered flag, dragging a shredded front tire across the line at a hundred miles per hour, Verstappen took second place, nine seconds behind him.

It's stuff like this that is exactly the reason that Lewis Hamilton is the most successful Formula One driver ever. I know this sounds like the end of the episode, but it's not. There's one more thing that makes Lewis Hamilton the greatest athlete of all time. And that's the way he uses his immense, immense public platform.

He has already talked about him opening up this traditionally rich, rich, rich white person sport to people of color and less economic advantage, but he's still the only person of color in an F1 car. So in 2020 Lewis set up a research project called the Hamilton Commission, to find out why so few people of color work in motor sport.

- It's not something you can just change over time. It's not about firing people and swapping them for people of color, it's not about that, the goal is not to do something short term, it's about setting something up, and providing a recommendation for these different businesses that are here and how they can go about improving diversity within their own organizations.

Three years later, the bloom of protest in the wake of George Floyd's death inspired Lewis to speak up. Top the victory podium for the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, he unzipped his racing suit, revealed a shirt that read,

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- He's bigger than Michael Jordan,more powerful than Mookie Betts,faster than Usain Bolt,Lewis Hamilton is thegreatest athlete of all time,and at no point during his career,which includes 100 Grand Prix wins,seven Formula One championshipsand countless other records,did he come off as anything but humble,grateful, and positive.How did this working class kidbecome the first black world championin a sport dominated by superrich European white dudes?What makes him so good?And how did he save F1 fromboring the world to death?Well, today we're gonna find out,let's get you up tospeed on Lewis Hamilton.(upbeat music)Thanks to Current forsponsoring today's video.- People don't think about all the gaswe have to purchase here at Donutwith so many cars, howdo we pay for it all?Well, this batch behind me,we paid for using our Current Visa card.Not only does Current alleviate gas holdsthat can often occur when filling up,but Current also helps you earn pointsat participating gas stations,and you can find out which gasstations offer this featurein the app.You see, Current is modern daybanking for modern day life,it's done entirely on your phone,so no more waiting in long linesor smelling a bank tellers bad breath,gross,with Current you cando what you need to dowithout having to fillout a bunch of formsusing a pin chained to a table.Why are they chained to a table?I'm not gonna steal your pen.SO change your banking for the better,by going to current.com/mediadonut,to get Current and learn more.I can even write it down for you,grab my pen here.Okay listen, I know what you're thinking,and you're like, oh, he's stole that penhe lied to us, no, I just likeattaching chains to my pens,something I like to do,it's a necklace now.- Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton,that's four names, count them,was born on January 7th, 1985.He's technically older than me.And he wanted to be a race car driversince he was five years old.After the first time he drove a car.Sure it was a crappy bumpercar at a tourist trap,but for a few minutes,little Lewis was Ayrton Sennatearing through the streets of Monacoin a fire-breathingMcLaren, he was hooked.Then one Christmas,he got an RC car muchbetter than the top hatsand Winston Churchill dollsmost British kids get.They also probably had salty candy,I don't know, I live over here.Lewis mastered RC car control fast.His parents noticedand started taking him to local RC raceswhere he regularly beat whole ass adults.He was so good, he ended up on TV for it.You can see how crazy focus Lewis was,even at seven years old.- Is it easy to do?- No.- Now, despite all of this fame,Lewis' childhood was not easy.He was a shy black kidwith undiagnosed dyslexiain a majority white school.He was bullied a lotand his teachers didn'tknow how to help him.Lewis' father Anthony, saw how confidentand focused his son waswhile racing RC carsand he wanted to help him growinto that confidence full-time,so the very next Christmashe bought a used go-cart for his son,changing his life and sports forever.- My car, it feels reallypowerful when I'm in it.But imagine being in the Formula One carmust be very powerful that.- Now, let's get somethingout of the way right now,car racing is expensive,Lewis' family could barely afford iton his dad's IT manager salary,but here's the thing about that IT job.It didn't leave enough timeto prioritize Lewis' carting.To be a race car driver,most of the time you neednot only rich parents,but parents that arewilling to travel with youevery single weekendand devote all of theirfree time to your racing.Your dad is your best friend.It's like race cardrivers and quarterbacks,they all kiss their dad on the mouth.I mean, have you seen the videoof Tom Brady kissing his son on the lips?It's a really, really long time.Anthony believed in his son so much,he quit his job and took up odd jobsjust to devote moretime to Lewis's racing.This father of the fricking centuryworked up to four jobs atonce to keep his son on track.At 15 years old,Lewis became Britain'syoungest cadet cart championat the ceremony Lewisrecognized big Ron Dennis.(upbeat music)- Ron Dennis.- Who ran the McLaren F1 program.- I asked for him to put his address downand his phone numberand he wrote in the autograph book,find me in nine yearsand we'll sort something out then.- Three years later,Ron hit up a 13 year old LewisHamilton to strike a deal.He saw a future champion in this kidwho somehow won fivecart series championshipsin 1996 and 1997 alone.Ron signed Lewis to theMcLaren Mercedes young drivers Programmywith a stroke of a pen Lewis Hamiltonbecame the youngestdriver to sign a contractwith an F1 team.When I was 13,I couldn't even write cursive.By the time he was 16,Lewis had dominated cartingharder than Godzilla dominated Tokyo.Finally it was time for him tostep into a big boy race car.And just like that,he became the youngest driverto race the British FormulaRenault Championship.A year later, he won thechampionship so earlythat he hopped into theBritish Formula Three seriesat just 18, which is crazy.You wanna know something else crazy?Lewis was going to school the whole time,fricking high school.I think they call ituniversity there or college.I don't know.It has been years sinceI've watched Skins.Lewis's trajectory in F3played out a lot like all the serieshe goofed up the first race or two,studied his mistakes,changed his techniqueand quickly rose toconsistent podium finishes.So let's fast forward to 2007,when a 22 year old Lewis Hamiltonbecame the youngest Formula One driverto ever sit on the gridand the first black driver in Formula One.I wanna remind you guys, this is 2007.(upbeat music)All right so right out of the gate,first race of his F1 career,the 2007 Australian Grand Prix,Lewis landed on the fricking podium.He came in third, rightbehind his new teammate,Fernando Alonzo,who was world champion thepast two years in a row.How do you not questionthe very fabric of realityin a situation like this?Unsurprisingly Lewisstarted stacking podiumslike a hungry lumberjack stacks pancakes,GP Malaysia, second place behind Alonso,GP Bahrain, second place ahead of Alonso,Spain, Alonso's home course,second in front of Alonso,Monaco, second behind Alonso again,Canada, this is a big one,Lewis' first Formula Onevictory, first place,then he followed that win with anotherat the US Grand Prix at Indy,and this put him at numberone in the points racefor the Drivers Championship.(beep) Yes, this kid is it.Alonso probably didn't expectsuch red hot competition from this kid.It looked like he might lose his chanceat a third consecutive titleto a 22 year old rookie.(intense music)And here's where things get tense,qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.To make a long, verycomplicated story short,McLaren told Alonso to run flat outand told Lewis to hold back,Lewis ignored theseinstructions and past Alonso,which he said he didbecause he didn't wantKimi Raikkonen and Ferrarito nab the pole from McLaren,Alonso was pissed,Alonso gets pissed a lot.- What the (beep)- And in a pit stop beforethe final qualifying laps,he blocked Lewis'sdeparture for 10 seconds,he basically stole poleposition from Lewis,this is like straight from like mean girlslike Tina Fay fricking wrote this,and it set a vibe at McLarenfor the rest of the 2007 season,which was riddled with drama and scandal.But this episode isn'tabout McLaren or Alonso,it's about Lewis Hamilton,and if you want to learn moreabout the Hamilton, Alonsofeud, we did a podcast about it,it's called Pass Gas you can get itwherever podcasts are streamed.We climaxes with a grown man,messily eating a peach, to spite his boss,it's weird, but youknow what else is weird?Finishing your rookie F1 seasonone point short of clinchingthe world championship.The whole fricking world wasstoked for Lewis Hamilton,which reminds me,we gotta talk about how Lewis Hamiltonmade the world evencare about Formula One.2007 kicked off a new erafor F1, the Hamilton era.Before this there was the Schumacher era,as in Michael Schumacher,Ferrari's German wunderkindwhich translates to wonder kid,which is a kind of bread.From 1994 to 2004,Michael Schumacher won theworld championship seven timesmore than anyone before him.He won so often that it made F1 boring.Every race was the same,Schumacher would start in pole position,no one would pass him, then he'd win,people were like, where'sthe spice of life?Where's the variety?Ratings tanked even Lewis Hamilton saidhe'd fall asleep or watchingthese races back in the day.Schumacher retired in2006 after 18 seasons,just in time for a new kingof speed to make the scene,attract a whole newaudience and save the sportfrom the bleak void of boredom.As I mentioned in the intro,Lewis Hamilton is the firstperson of color in Formula One,which is like upsetting,not necessarily surprising,but kind of like shocking.It's 2007, that was like 13 years ago.He's a black man from thepublic housing projectswho made his own way into a sportdominated by extremely wealthy white guys.Then he kicked the (beep)out of all of them.Every single part ofthat sentence is dope.Lewis didn't just break downF1 racial and economicbarriers, he set them on fire.This turned a whole lot ofnew eyes towards the sport.Lewis was racking up winslike a lady who plays poolracks up number ballson a soft green table.And I call that another perfect,perfect pumphrey metaphor.People wondered if Lewis would bethe first black F1 world champion,F1 viewership skyrocketed,and all of a sudden Lewis was everywhere,talk shows, GQ magazine,even the 2008 American Music Awards.Thanks to the 2008 American Music Awards,Lewis became an instant celebrityhanging out with P Diddyand Beyonce, Jay-Z,but he remained the humble,respectful, gentleman driverhe was from the beginning,even today as the undisputedgreatest racing driverof all time and I wouldsay greatest athlete,Lewis Hamilton is the ideal role model,he has no scandals,he's a good guy,and his rock solidcharacter is a huge partof what makes him thegreatest athlete of all time.And what about the otherpart? The racing part?How can a race car driverbe the greatest straight-upathlete of all time?Not just the greatest driver isn't an F1just a bunch of dudessitting in fast chairsfor a couple hours? No, no.And FYI talk that stuff around Nolen,he'll rip your arms out of your socketsand replaced them with nerd ropes,then he'll eat the nerd robes,disarming you twice.For real, Formula One is possiblythe most mentally and physicallydemanding sport there is,so get ready because I'mabout to drop some weird,gross supporting facts.The simple act of not dyingin Formula One requiresa staggering combinationof technical knowledgeand precision engineeringfor both the car and the driverand like 150 other people,over a two hour race,F1 drivers burn as much energyas someone running a half marathon,they sweat up to nine pounds,nine pounds,we don't even normallymeasure fluids in pounds,one gallon of saline weighs 8.6 pounds,that's like a gallon of sweat,I'd buy a gallon ofLewis Hamilton's sweat,it's new gamer girl, bath water, blah.Their bodies are twisted, pulledand smushed over and over againby up to eight G's of force,you know how much astronauts deal with?Three G's and you know what?Astronauts think they're so (beep) cool,guess what? They used to be.But now astronautsare the lamest (beep) in the (beep) world.Thanks Bezos you dork.How did you ruin astronauts bro?By the end of the race,drivers experience a decreasein brain function by up to 40%to combat this, elite F1 drivers,fine tune their nervous systemsthrough thousands andthousands of hours of practice.Not only can they stay chill and focusedat 200 miles per, they can sense thingsregular humans don't.Lewis says that whenhe approaches a corner,everything slows down andhis visual field widens,allowing him see more thanhe can in regular life.As an elite athlete myself,I can relate to this,when I see Nolan drinking milk,I see a three-year longjoke, just spread out.So yeah, Formula One racingrequires super humanstrength and enduranceof both body and mind.And I don't wanna offend mymillions of curling fans,but F1 drivers are themost incredible athletesin the world.So let's talk about whatmakes Lewis Hamilton,the best one.(upbeat music)Lewis is known for breaking hard and late,which lets him blast out of a turn early,when the difference betweenfirst and second placeis measured in secondssometimes less than seconds,consistently breakinga quarter second laterthen your opponent really adds up.Now Lewis' dad taught him thiswhen he was like nine years old.- And it's like, you got to break here,not break where he's breaking,you'll break furtherand eventually I could break thereand that's quicker than everyone.- Lewis has an almost supernatural abilityto dance a race car on the edge of grip.That means that he can push a carmuch harder than most driverswithout wearing down the tires as much,there's data to support thisand it shows that Lewis' tiresare sometimes five degreescooler than his teammates,even though they're runningnearly identical speeds.This took practice to perfect.Lewis' early career isspotted with failuresfrom pushing the car too far.Now this is pretty muchnever happens any more,but pretty much never isn'tthe same as actual never,on the last lap of the2020 British Grand Prix,Lewis' front tire gave up,he was three quarters ofa lap away from victorywith Red Bulls Max Verstappen30 seconds behind him.He knew if he could find the edgeof his cars newly limitedmechanical ability and ride it,he could still win, butif he pushed too hard,it would be over,so he had to slow it down, but how much?Two, butt clenching minutes later,Lewis took the checkered flag,dragging a shredded front tireacross the line at ahundred miles per hour,Verstappen took second place,nine seconds behind him.It's stuff like this,that is exactly thereason that Lewis Hamiltonis the most successfulFormula One driver ever.I know this sounds likethe end of the episode,but it's not.There's one more thingthat makes Lewis Hamiltonthe greatest athlete of all time.And that's the way that he useshis immense, immense public platform.I've already talked about himopening up this traditionallyrich, rich, rich white person sport,to people of color andless economic advantage,but he's still the only person of colorin an F1 car.So in 2020 Lewis set up a research projectcalled the Hamilton Commission,to find out why so few people of colorwork in motor sport.- It's not something youcan just change over time.It's not about firing peopleand swapping them for people of color,it's not about that,the goal is not to dosomething short term,it's about setting something upand providing a recommendationfor these differentbusinesses that are hereand how they can go aboutimproving the diversitywithin their own organizations.- Three years later,the bloom of protest in thewake of George Floyd's deathinspired Lewis to speak up.A top the victory podium forthe 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix,he unzipped his racing suit,revealed a shirt that read,"Arrest the cops whokilled Breonna Taylor"the FIA banned non-official clothingon the podium in response,in a recent interview,he said his motivationhas shifted over the yearsfrom impressing his dad,to proving doubters wrong,to matching and besting his heroes.Now he said, he's racing for somethingand somebody else.And there it is,the unifying qualitythat the greatest of all time,in every discipline share,they do itfor something bigger than themselves.Thank you guys for watching this videoand everything else on Donut.You can follow me on social media,I know a lot of you guys do,you really spoke upduring the BLM protests.I love you.(gentle music)