Lewis Hamilton is one of Formula 1’s great icons and has been with the championship throughout a period of rapid growth.
When current owners Liberty Media took over at the end of the 2017 season, there weren’t many who could have envisioned how much everything would change in the years to come.
A big part of that was down to the success of Netflix’s hit series – Drive to Survive, but that isn’t the only thing that has kept fans coming back for more.
Nowadays, celebrities are often seen on the grid enjoying themselves before the start of the race, and usually are there to support a specific driver or team.
Just a few years ago, when Formula 1 didn’t quite have the same platform it has now, celebrities would still visit, but not quite by the same volume.
The drivers were and continue to be the real stars. Lewis Hamilton is so popular because he has done a lot of winning, and that gets remembered, even as the years tick by.
Lewis Hamilton took Millie Bobby Brown on a ‘terrifying’ hot lap at the 2018 United States Grand Prix
As Formula 1 was nearing the end of its first full season under the guidance of Liberty Media, the 2018 United States Grand Prix was meant to be a thrilling event.
Not only was it their home race, but there was also a championship on the line between Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Hamilton.
Instead, the unlikeliest of outcomes would occur, with Kimi Raikkonen, who hadn’t won for five years, taking his last ever victory.
Meanwhile, earlier in the weekend, Hamilton got to take Stranger Things sensation Millie Bobby Brown, who was aged just 14 at the time, on a heart-stopping hot lap around the Circuit of the Americas.
“I got to do a hot lap with him, and we got to go around the racetrack, and it was amazing,” she admitted on the First We Feast podcast in 2022. “It was a really cool experience, very terrifying.
“Almost as terrifying as this one, but it was really cool, and this moment was when we were about to get in the car. So you see I’m a bit nervous.”
What happened to Lewis Hamilton during the 2018 United States Grand Prix?
Despite taking pole position for the race, Hamilton would be overtaken at the start by Raikkonen, while his title rival Vettel would spin after contact with Daniel Ricciardo on lap one.
It put him in a position to land the title, as the German driver dropped as low as 15th. With a victory, the Briton would have sealed a fifth crown.
However, as the race drew on, an aggressive one-stop strategy would see both Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, who started 18th, remain ahead of Hamilton.
He couldn’t find a way past, ultimately finishing third, taking the title to the next weekend in Mexico, where he did eventually claim it.
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