Lewis Hamilton

Andrew van de Burgt is Editor of Autosport, the hugely respected motor racing weekly. Andrew has reported for the magazine on Lewis Hamilton's progress in F3, GP2 and F1, and has come to know him well.

Growing up - Lewis cites his family as his inspiration.Karting - Lewis began competitive karting at the age of eight, winning the British Championship (Cadet Class) in 1995, and went on to achieve World Number One ranking in his final year of karting in 2000.Formula Renault - Lewis made his single-seater car racing debut in Formula Renault in 2001 at the age of 16, dominating in his final season in 2003.Formula 3 - In 2004, Lewis won the Bahrain F3 Superprix and the Macau F3 Grand Prix. In 2005, he won 15 of the 20 rounds in the Formula 3 Euroseries, as well as winning all the blue-riband F3 races from pole position.GP2 - After a season-long battle with Nelson Piquet Jnr, and stunning wins at Monaco and Silverstone, Lewis won the 2006 GP2 Championship.The final step - The story behind the decision to put Lewis in the McLaren race team for 2007, alongside Fernando Alonso.Challenging for the World Championship - From rookie to World Championship leader in four races. The story of Lewis's 2007 F1 season, chronicled race by race.Britain's new World Champion - The race-by-race story of Lewis's season-long battle for the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship.Full race results data for Formula Renault, Formula 3, GP2 and Formula 1.