‘I felt the system was up against me and I was swimming against the tide’: Lewis Hamilton details facing ‘traumatising’ racist abuse at school where pupils threw bananas at him and called him the ‘N-word’
Lewis Hamilton has opened up about facing racist bullying at school as a child in Stevenage.
The seven-times Formula One world champion, 38, detailed the horrific abuse where fellow pupils would throw bananas at him and call him the ‘N-word’.
Speaking to the On Purpose podcast, he said: ‘School was the most traumatising and most difficult part of my life.
Awful: Lewis Hamilton has opened up about facing racist bullying at school as a child in Stevenage
‘I was already being bullied at the age of six. At that particular school I was one of three kids of colour and just bigger, stronger, bullying kids were throwing me around a lot of the time.’
Lewis continued: ‘And the constant jabs, the things that are either thrown at you, like bananas, or people that would use the N-word just so relaxed.
‘People calling you half-caste and not knowing where you fit in. That was difficult.’
‘In my [secondary] school there were six or seven black kids out of 1,200 kids and three of us were put outside the headmasters’ office all the time. The headmaster just had it out for us – and particularly me.’
Abhorrent: The seven-times Formula One world champion, 38, detailed the horrific abuse where fellow pupils would throw bananas at him and call him the ‘N-word’
He admitted: ‘I felt the system was up against me and I was swimming against the tide.
‘There were a lot of things I suppressed. I didn’t feel I could go home and tell my parents that these kids kept calling me the N-word or I got bullied or beaten up at school today, I didn’t want my dad to think I was not strong.’
Elsewhere in the podcast – which was recorded in November of last year – Lewis spoke about his future after Formula One.
He said: ‘It is going to be really, really hard when I stop racing. I have been doing it for 30 years. When you stop, what is going to match that?
Candid: Speaking to the On Purpose podcast, he said: ‘School was the most traumatising and most difficult part of my life’
‘Nothing is going to match being in a stadium, being at a race, being at the pinnacle of the sport and being at the front of the grid or coming through the grid and that emotion that I get with that.
‘When I do stop there will be a big hole so I am trying to focus and find things that can replace that and be just as rewarding.’
Lewis has previously spoken about facing racism as a child and how his upbringing made him more determined than ever to spark change – urging youngsters not give up on their dreams.
In an interview with BBC News in 2020, Lewis said: ‘For the kids out there who dream the impossible, do not give up on that dream because I am living proof that you can manifest your dreams and even the impossible ones.
‘I remember as a kid; adults, teachers, parents of other drivers telling me that I would not make it. “You’re not going to make it, go back to your country.”
‘All these horrible things and I remember thinking I’m going to prove you wrong.
‘The message is for all the kids out there who feel they don’t have a voice and might be dreaming of something or want to dream big.’
Empowering: Lewis has previously spoken about facing racism as a child and how his upbringing made him more determined than ever to spark change – urging youngsters not give up on their dreams
Future goals: Elsewhere in the podcast – which was recorded in November of last year – Lewis spoke about his future after Formula One
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