“I wasn't smart enough”: When Lewis Hamilton got candid on the part of F1 he didn’t consider as a child

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is arguably one of the biggest F1 drivers ever and a brand in himself. The announcement of the Briton's move to Ferrari boosted Ferrari's market capitalization, highlighting just how influential Hamilton is beyond the world of Formula 1. Back in 2016, he sat for an interview and shared how he didn't consider the things that surrounded F1 as a child.

Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007 with McLaren and teamed up with two-time champion Fernando Alonso. The rookie was able to finish equal on points with Alonso and made a name for himself just in his rookie season.

As Hamilton progressed in his career, he signed multiple brand deals, including those with fashion brands, as he started pursuing his passion. He even made his own music and featured as an artist in Christina Aguilera's song, Pipe.

However, setting his dreams and passions aside, being an F1 driver entails numerous brand sponsorships, meet-and-greets, public events, and other PR activities that are part of the contract. F1 as a sport has grown significantly since the Drive to Survive series became a hit and Liberty Media took over.

As Hamilton completed a decade in F1 in 2016, he spoke with ESPN about fame and media spotlight, and highlighted how he wasn't aware of the other things that came with being an F1 driver. He said:

“Generally everything has turned out to be bigger and better ... but also different. When I was dreaming of being a racing driver I didn't think of all the things that came with it. I'd only contemplated driving the car and being in that garage and being on track.

“It hadn't even entered my mind all the things that surround it outside the garage and the team -- maybe I wasn't smart enough back then, but I hadn't thought about those things. Those were probably more of a surprise when they came along,” added Lewis Hamilton.

F1 Insider on Fred Vasseur allowing Lewis Hamilton to focus on “other stuff” amid recent struggles

Lewis Hamilton signed with Ferrari ahead of the current season, but has struggled to keep up with Charles Leclerc in the same machinery. The struggles in the last two races in Hungary and Belgium increased, with Hamilton coming out and calling him useless.

F1 insider Kym Illman, during the F1 summer break, commented on Hamilton's struggles, suggesting that the Briton's move to Ferrari wasn't just about focusing on racing, but was bigger than that. Explaining how Hamilton became a brand outside the sport, he added:

“Hamilton went to Ferrari with so much stuff, the amount of money he was being paid, the Lewis Hamilton brand, and the minute, the millisecond we saw him in that black outfit by the F40, it was pretty clear that he wasn’t going there to be microscopically focused on just being a racing driver again. He was loving all this other stuff or doing all this other stuff.”

“I’m amazed Fred allowed that to happen because he was just a racing driver,” he added.

Lewis Hamilton is over 40 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, sitting P6 in the driver's standings.