Lewis Hamilton has announced that he is planning to add his mother’s surname, Larbalestier, to his own.
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has disclosed that he intends to take his mother’s maiden name, Larbalestier, as his surname.
With the start of the new Formula One season on Sunday, the seven-time world champion is considering changing his name in the next weeks or months.
The British sportsman, 37, confirmed his decision to merge his mother’s maiden name into his own during a speech at the 2022 Dubai Expo ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, which starts this weekend.
Hamilton was asked about the likelihood of winning an eighth world championship and what it would mean to him if he did, surpassing Michael Schumacher’s existing record of seven.
Hamilton claimed it would be “mind-blowing” to reach a milestone that no other driver has achieved, before going on to talk about what it would mean to his family and announcing plans to adopt his mother’s surname.
“It would mean the world to my family [to win an eighth title],” Hamilton said.
“It would mean a lot to me knowing that, for example, I’m really proud of my family’s name: Hamilton.”
“Actually none of you might know that my mum’s name is Larbalestier. And I’m just about to put that in my name.”
“Because I don’t really fully understand the whole idea of why, when people get married, the woman loses her name. I really want her name to continue on with the Hamilton name.”
Carmen, Hamilton’s mother, divorced his father, Anthony, when he was two years old. He grew up with her until the age of 12, when he moved live with his father, but he has stayed close to her.
Hamilton’s mother, Carmen Larbalestier, has attended a number of races over his career and was there at his knighting ceremony at Windsor Castle in December. When he was a child, his mother and father, Anthony Hamilton, divorced.
Hamilton has previously revealed that his success is also down to his father, who he claims he never doubted him, not even once.
Anthony is referred to as his true hero, by his son Lewis as he never left the house. He was seldom dressed in new clothes. He wasn’t putting money aside to buy something new. Everything went into go-karting, including remortgaging the house many times. It’s odd, but he had such faith in the champ.
Hamilton will return to Bahrain in the coming days after his participation at Expo 2020, ahead of the F1 season-opener, for which he has already ruled out Mercedes’ prospects of winning.
Last week, the squad had a poor second test, prompting Hamilton to comment on Saturday, “I don’t think we’ll be competing for wins at the moment.”
