Lewis Hamilton is perhaps the most successful driver to ever grace Formula 1 and for any fanatic, it is rather unnecessary to even read any introduction about him.
His accolades have seen him knighted by the Queen and it is fair to say that his parents are extremely proud of their son’s achievements.
Lewis Hamilton‘s father Anthony Hamilton and mother Carmen Larbalestier have often spoken about the difficulties that Hamilton had to deal with as a kid growing up in a fractured home.
While Lewis was showing signs from a young age to be someone with a special gift in the art of racing, things at his house were not all that smooth. At the tender age of two, he saw his mother leave the house.
Why did Hamilton’s parents split up?
Carmen has now explained why she decided that this was a necessary step.
“Lewis was the best thing to come out of my marriage. [The split] didn’t damage Lewis,” she said.
“He is probably better for it than if we had stuck together in an unhappy marriage.
“Tony [Anthony] wanted to be somebody and he has achieved that. I wanted a quiet life and that put a barrier between us. I couldn’t see myself in that busy, hectic lifestyle.
“But I didn’t stop him making sure Lewis got what he wanted. Without his dad’s constant, constant work he would not have been able to continue.”
Although his biological parents moved on and got married a second time, they didn’t allow this to come in the way of their affection towards Lewis.
It is a known fact that both Anthony and Carmen regularly visit Hamilton in the paddock and Lewis himself seems happy with how things have turned out.
Lewis and Anthony had a tough relationship
In a post from 2020, Hamilton had spoken about his relationship with his dad.
“My dad and I haven’t had the easiest of relationships,” he said.
“In the search for success, we were so immersed in the drive to succeed that we lost sight of what was most important, our relationship.”
Although Carmen has largely stayed away from the media spotlight, a lot of interest has been generated towards her ever since Hamilton decided to adopt her name.
It was during the 2020 Ubai Expo that Hamilton formally announced that he would include ‘Larbalestier’ in his name as a tribute to his birth mother.