FORMER neighbours of Sir Lewis Hamilton have fondly remembered his time in their town but said one of his remarks went down “like a lead balloon”.
Locals said they knew the Formula One ace was destined for greatness when he hurtled round their council estate on a go-kart at the age of seven.
Andrew StyczynskiLewis Hamilton’s first home in Stevenage[/caption]
Andrew StyczynskiTrevor Lugmayer pointing to where a Blue Plaque use to hang saying ‘Lewis Hamilton Racing Driver lived here 1997-2001′[/caption]
Andrew StyczynskiTrevor has bought the house next door where Hamilton’s mother Carmen lived[/caption]
AlamyLewis Hamilton is joining Ferrari from next year[/caption]
And the local postman revealed exclusively how Lewis had his first crash, when he ran slap-bang into his legs as he delivered mail in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
“I shouted ‘Hey, look out, you little bugger’,” said the postie, who asked not to be named.
“Then he whacked into me, going like the clappers on his little cart.
“But Lewis did say ‘sorry’. He was a lovely lad and his family were very nice people too. I often used to chat to his dad.
“I’m not at all surprised he ended up as world champion.
“And there’s not many postmen can say they were once run over by Lewis Hamilton!”
Former engineer Peter Fuller, 80, who lived just down the road from the Hamilton family, told how he would often “straighten out” Lewis’s go-kart after he’d had “a bump”.
“He used to play with my kids,” said Peter.
“He could be a bit mischievous, but he was a nice lad. Everybody liked him.
“I’m not at all surprised he became the world champion – even as a kid he was very competitive and never frightened to have a go.”
Shopworker Tia Brown, 25, whose parents moved into the Hamilton family’s old house after they left, told how he occasionally popped back to look at his childhood home.
“Once he came round on my birthday and brought me some cake,” she said.
“Another time when I was in secondary school he visited with his girlfriend.
“I think Lewis is great. Despite his wealth, he is a really lovely down-to-earth lad.”
‘LOVELY LAD’
The house in Stevenage, where the youngster started racing model cars and go-karts, has since changed hands several times.
When the Hamilton family left the home, they moved into two detached houses just a couple of miles away.
Lewis lived in one with his father and stepmother, while his mum lived in the one next door.
Both are reckoned to be worth well over a million pounds.
Lewis Hamilton, 39, recently signed a £100million mega deal to join Ferrari in a switch that has shocked F1.
The seven-time world champion has agreed to drive for F1’s most famous team in 2025 and 2026.
But the multi-millionaire upset many locals a few years ago during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest when he slagged off Stevenage.
He told host Gabby Logan: “It really was a dream for us all as a family to do something different; for us to get out of the slums.”
The then leader of Stevenage Council described his comment as “disappointing” and said local people felt “very offended”.
Andrew StyczynskiKerry Gray lives near to Lewis Hamilton’s first home[/caption]
Andrew StyczynskiPeter Fuller used to fix Hamilton’s broken go karts[/caption]
Andrew StyczynskiHamilton’s former home down a leafy Hertfordshire lane[/caption]
Retired businessman Trevor Lugmayer and his wife Valerie now live in one, while their daughter Sherry and her family are next door.
“This is certainly no slum,” said grandfather Trevor, 78, who was once a professional DJ.
“I don’t think Lewis could have been serious when he made that remark.
“On the contrary, it’s an extremely desirable area. One house down the road sold the other year for more than a million.
“And at one time there was a covenant which meant the houses could only be sold to professional people like doctors, lawyers and accountants.”
There used to be a blue and white plaque on the side of Trevor’s house saying that Lewis Hamilton once lived there.
But light-fingered souvenir-hunters unscrewed it in the middle of the night .
Trevor added: “We still get fans coming round from time to time. But they’re not much of a problem
“Lewis’s brother also pops back occasionally in his yellow Lamborghini car.
“But he doesn’t hang about afterwards – when he’s ready to go, he just puts his foot down and ‘whoosh’ his car has vanished.”
Once this Formula One season is over, six-times world champion Hamilton plans to leave his Mercedes team and join rivals Ferrari in a multi-million pound deal.
“Who can blame him for that?” asked Mr Fuller.
“Who wouldn’t switch teams with that sort of money being offered?
“His slum remark the other year did go down like a lead balloon but if was off-the-cuff and I don’t think he meant it the way it came across.
“Although compared to where he now lives in Monaco, virtually anywhere else in the world would be considered a slum!”
WHO COULD REPLACE HAMILTON AT MERCEDES?
Mercedes will have a vacant seat for 2025.
Here, SunSport’s F1 correspondent Ben Hunt looks at FIVE potential candidates who could replace him and partner George Russell in the Silver Arrows.
Oscar Piastri – McLaren have sewn up Lando Norris to a new long-term contract that should (in theory) put him out of Mercedes’ reach. However, they are yet to tie down his teammate Piastri, 22. The Aussie has an excellent record and won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles before spending a year on the sidelines with Alpine and getting his chance in F1 with McLaren. He impressed on his debut season last year and has the potential to be a world champion.
Daniel Ricciardo – The experienced driver’s future remains in doubt as he bides his time at Red Bull’s B-team. Ricciardo would be low-hassle and offer some stability but by that time he would be 35. It seems unlikely that they would opt for him at this point in his career, but if he has a good season this year, he could come into the reckoning.
Kimi Antonelli – You may not have heard of the Italian, but he is mustard. Still only 17, he has won at all the junior categories and has been part of the Mercedes young driver programme since 2019. This season he has been promoted from F4 to F2, where he has been tipped to shine. A good debut season in F2 could sway Mercedes into taking a risk on him for 2025. Antonelli and his family are close to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Mick Schumacher – Wolff has always been so incredibly supportive of Schumacher and spoken highly of him, that you’d at least expect him to come into consideration. He knows the team from his role as reserve driver and consequently would get up to speed. But speed is also the problem. He was shocking at Haas and if he really was THAT good, he’d still be driving in F1.
Alex Albon – A more-sensible choice would be the London-born Albon. A great guy who is also very quick. He has a fantastic relationship with Russell and would be the low-maintenance quick partnership similar to Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas that swept to successive titles. Albon would take little convincing to join from Williams and Mercedes would not need to pay him half of the £50million they were dishing out to Hamilton.
Grandmother Kerry Gray, 51, who lives a couple of doors away, moved into the street after the Hamilton family had left.
But she said: “No way is this a slum. I came here from Harlow and it’s much better than there. I love Stevenage and we have some really good neighbours.”
Another neighbour Enrique Camilleri, a 20-year-old support worker, said: “I think Lewis was exaggerating to call this a slum. I really like living here, there’s never any trouble.”
Lewis Hamilton’s reps have been contacted for comment.
The seven-time Drivers Championship winner will join Ferrari in 2025