Lewis Hamilton's true character as disabled brother exposes his behaviour The NY Journals

Lewis Hamilton’s younger brother Nicolas has opened up about how the Formula 1 legend treated him as a child as he came to terms with having a rare form of cerebral palsy

Nicolas Hamilton is grateful to big brother Lewis(Image: Steve Etherington, Getty Images)

Nicolas Hamilton is grateful to his Formula 1 icon brother for normalising his disability – even if he was used as his crash test dummy. Born with a rare form of cerebral palsy that affects leg movement, Nicolas, 33, was told he would never walk.

However, he refused to let his disability deter him and, like seven-time world champion Lewis, he got into motorsport. In 2015, he made history by becoming the first disabled driver to compete in the British Touring Car Championship. He returned to the same series this year.

Nicolas says the support of his big brother has been critical to the challenges he has overcome. He told the High Performance podcast: “Lewis normalised 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.

Nicolas is a racer himself(Image: Ker Robertson, Getty Images)

“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!’

“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.

Lewis Hamilton and younger brother Nicolas

Nicolas was often treated like a ‘crash test dummy’ by his big brother(Image: Getty)

“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 realise 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 maximise, 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.”

Sky Sports launches discounted Formula 1 package

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more