Sir Lewis Hamilton with his mother Carmen Lockhart, nee Larbalestier, after he was made a Knight Bachelor during a investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Photo / Getty
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is changing his name.
The 37-year-old will incorporate his mother Carmen's surname with the inclusion of 'Larbalestier' as a middle name rather than adding it to his surname.
"I am really proud of my family's name. My mum's name is Larbalestier and I'm just about to put that in my name," said Hamilton.
"I really want her name to continue on with the Hamilton name."
Hamilton's parents Anthony and Carmen divorced when he was young.
"I don't really fully understand the whole idea when people get married then the woman loses her name."
Hamilton is aiming for an eighth Formula One title when the season begins in Bahrain this week after narrowly finishing second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the last lap of the final race.
Hamilton has doubts over whether the W13 car is quick enough to win the first race in Bahrain, and maybe even several races after that.
"I think people will be surprised. It's a bit different this year," the British driver said. "At the moment I don't think we'll be competing for wins."
Hamilton insists this is not bluff or mind games, or that Mercedes is talking itself down deliberately while secretly holding something back to unleash on its rivals Monday NZT in Sakhir.
"We have far bigger challenges this time and they're not one-week turnarounds, I think it will take a little bit longer. From what I've been told we have a considerable amount of pace to find," a downbeat-sounding Hamilton said as preseason testing left F1's powerhouse team with more questions than answers. "We have some hurdles to overcome, and obviously next week we'll get a much better showing of our pace."
Jason Ryan said there'll be some tough conversations in the next couple of days.