Lewis Hamilton is a British F1 driver from Stevenage, England who races for the Mercedes team. He is statistically one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time and has won 103 Grands Prix and Pole Positions – more than any other driver in the history of the sport. Hamilton has been racing in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship since 2007 and made his debut at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix for McLaren, sensationally overtaking his double world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso at the first corner of the race. After scoring his first victory at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix and winning a further 3 more Grands Prix in his rookie season, Hamilton very nearly managed to win the Drivers’ Championship in his rookie season but faltered at the final two races and lost out to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by a single point. Hamilton won the title in 2008 for McLaren and then, having moved to the Mercedes team, claimed back-to-back titles for the eponymous German marque in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 he was beaten to the title by team-mate Nico Rosberg, who promptly retired at the end of the season. Hamilton added a further 4 titles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 before being defeated by Max Verstappen in 2021 after a thrilling but controversial finish to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Before racing in Formula 1, Hamilton was the GP2 Series Champion in 2006 and the Formula 3 Euro Series Champion in 2005. Since 2014 he has raced with number 44 in Formula One, a number he used in during his karting career.