Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has told the podcast ‘On Purpose’ that he used to have a very difficult childhood. Very traumatic, according to Hamilton, was the moment at school when they threw bananas at him.
“I was bullied at the age of six,” Hamilton testifies of his time in primary school. “I was one of three children with a color at the school in question. Bigger and stronger kids were regularly teasing me and throwing me around.”
“The constant blows, the things thrown at me, like bananas, or the n-word being used. It was a very difficult time for me.”
“At my secondary school, there were six or seven black children out of a total of 1,200 children. Two or three of us regularly had to go to the director, he was after us, especially me.”
“I felt like the system was against me and I had to swim against the direction. A lot of things were suppressed.”
Hamilton was also regularly chosen last as a child, even though he was often better and stronger than others. However, according to his father, Hamilton had to keep going.
“My father never let me cry as a child. He told me it was a sign of weakness. The hardest part is to keep going but we have to. Many people struggle with finding a goal. But that’s ok. You will find it. Don’t give up,” Hamilton has a message for others.