Lewis Hamilton recalls winning championship one-handed to save motorsport career

7-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has recalled how he effectively raced with one hand to win a championship when he was 15 in order to keep his McLaren contract and potentially save his motorsport career.

Hamilton will go down as one of the motorsport greats, with him breaking nearly every record there is to break in Formula 1.

A joint-leading 7-time champion with Michael Schumacher, too, Hamilton deserves to be in the conversation as to who is the greatest racing driver of all time but, after overcoming adversity to deliver a good result at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, Lewis took to Instagram to recall another tough moment in his life that could have led to a very different career.

When he was 15, he fell off of his bike and hurt his wrist to the extent where it was broken and he would have to compete in that year’s European Formula A championship massively hindered by it.

Knowing that his McLaren contract could be on the line if he did not compete and get results, though, Hamilton revealed how, in typical Lewis style, he took the challenge on:

“When I was 15 I fell off my bike and hurt my wrist.

“The next day I was in so much pain I walked myself to the hospital where doctors told me it was broken and I needed a cast. I had just started the European Formula A championship and this meant I wouldn’t be able to compete.

“I was so terrified, I could not afford to lose my McLaren contract. So I did what I had to do: had the cast removed, put on a lighter weight one, and raced one-handed. I won that championship.

“I’ve known since then that I can overcome anything when I fight for it. Whether it’s driving with an injured wrist or fighting my way up the grid like I did last weekend. The same is true for