Lewis Hamilton Is Changing His Name to Honor His Mother

Lewis Hamilton is making a change to honor his mother. The Formula One driver recently shared that he will soon be racing under a new name.

“I’m really proud of my family’s name, Hamilton,” the 37-year-old said ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. “None of you might know that my mum’s name is Larbalestier and I’m just about to put that in my name.”

He added, “I don’t really fully understand the whole idea when people get married then the woman loses her name, and my mom, I really want her name to continue on with the Hamilton name.”

When asked if he would be making the change ahead of this weekend’s race, the superstar noted, “Hopefully soon. I don’t know if it will be this weekend, but we’re working on it.”

Hamilton was raised by his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, after she split from his father, Anthony Hamilton, when he was two. Hamilton has been open about his relationship with his parents. In an interview with The Guardian, the British race car driver shared his experience being raised by a white mother and a Black father.

“She was so loving. But she didn’t fully understand the impact of the things I was experiencing at school,” he said in the interview. “The bullying and being picked on. And my dad was quite tough, so I didn’t tell him too much about those experiences.”

“As a kid I remember just staying quiet about it because I didn’t feel anyone really understood. I just kept it to myself,” he added, noting that sports offered him an outlet. “I did boxing because I needed to channel the pain. I did karate because I was being beaten up and I wanted to be able to defend myself.”