School was traumatizing and difficult, says Lewis Hamilton

“I was already being bullied at the age of six. At that particular school I was one of three kids of colour and just bigger, stronger, bullying kids were throwing me around a lot of the time.

“The constant jabs, the things that are either thrown at you, like bananas, or people that would use the N-word just so relaxed. People calling you half-caste and not knowing where you fit in. That for me was difficult.”

Lewis, who received a knighthood in the 2021 New Year Honors, thought his headmaster “had it out” for him as well.

The seven-time Formula One world champion said on the podcast “On Purpose”: “Out of 1,200 students in my [high] school, there were six or seven black students, and three of us were always placed outside the headmaster’s office. We were the target of the headmistress’s ire, especially myself.”

Lewis, one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, also felt unable to talk to his parents about his problems.

He explained: “I felt the system was up against me and I was swimming against the tide. There were a lot of things I suppressed.

“I didn’t feel I could go home and tell my parents that these kids kept calling me the N-word, or I got bullied or beaten up at school today, I didn’t want my dad to think I was not strong.”

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