Lewis Hamilton’s brother Nicolas has praised his Formula 1 legend sibling for treating his disability as completely normal. The 33-year-old was born with cerebral palsy and doctors initially warned he would never walk.
However, Nicolas refused to let his condition define his limits. Following in his seven-time world champion brother’s footsteps, he pursued motorsport and made history in 2015 as the first disabled driver to race in the British Touring Car Championship.
Nicolas, who returned to the Touring Cars circuit this season, has disclosed how his famous brother’s childhood treatment helped him confront challenges directly. It comes after Hamilton’s honest admission over ‘expectations’ placed on him at Ferrari.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, he explained: “Lewis normalized my disability. What I mean by that is that, just as much as my parents didn’t treat me any differently as a son, my brother didn’t treat me any differently as a brother.
“I was literally like his crash test dummy! Anything that looked dangerous, he would get me to do it first to see how dangerous it was. Lewis always said to me, and he might have said it in interviews already before, but he always wanted a little baby brother. His wish was finally granted.
“Obviously, I ended up with this disability, but for him it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’ve now got this baby brother, he’s disabled.’ It was, ‘I’ve got a baby brother and I’m going to pick on him and I’m going to treat him just like I normally would with any baby brother.’
“The amount of falls, crashes, scrapes, bumps and everything else I’ve had from Lewis just play fighting with me and being rough with me, like brothers and siblings do.
“That actually has been a real big part of how strong I am internally. Falling over doesn’t bother me at all. Hitting my head, if I’m bleeding or whatever, I’m not bothered about it.
“I remember him pushing me in a go-kart and trying to get me to go around corners really fast, and I would flip out of it and end up in a bush. He would be like, ‘You’re all right, get back in!’
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“It taught me to deal with the pain and just carry on. That’s what I do my whole life now, so my pain threshold is super high, and I just continue.
“It doesn’t matter what is going on, I’ll deal with the pain later. I’ll never have that conversation with him where it’s like, ‘Did you realize how much of an impact you’ve had on my life?’ Because that’s not his fault either.
“He was chosen in life to have this talent and this opportunity to maximize, and he did that. I’m not saying life is terrible because it isn’t. Life is great. We are a great family. We’ve achieved great things. Lewis is happy and doing amazing things. That’s all that we can wish for.”
After securing a sixth-place finish at the recent Italian Grand Prix, Lewis and his Ferrari team are gearing up for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. It’s been a challenging season for everyone at the Prancing Horse, who are hopeful that the 2026 regulation changes will tip the scales in their favor.