LEWIS ON THE WAGON

Lewis Hamilton had a drinking problem. Who knew?

It was only this week, when Who magazine listed a string of high-profile celebrities who had battled alcohol and become successfully sober – Miley Cyrus, Adele, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore and Anne Hathaway – that Hamilton's past problem was revealed to mainstream Australia.

The list in Who tracked Hamilton's battle with alcohol back to an earlier interview in Vogue magazine, published in November of 2023 when he was promoting a non-alcoholic blue agave spirit called Almave.

“I don't know if I’m going to drink again,” Hamilton said.

Back then, the famously vegan racer admitted he had not had an alcoholic drink for months, a number which is now counted in years.

“Since I’ve stopped drinking, I’ve just been feeling so much better, so much more clarity. I sleep better, I wake up in the morning and I can still get up at 5am,” he said.

Hamilton's involvement with alcohol began when he was 16 and he admitted the obvious downside.

“​​I’ll suffer for several days—sometimes it’ll be like three or four days,” he said

Yet he was still able to focus on his Formula One dream.

“I’ve always been looking for how do you get that extra one per cent? As an athlete, that’s what you are always doing.”

Part of his personal problem was life outside racing.

“There is pressure within a social setting,” he admitted.

“I was like, 'Wow, that’s kind of crazy how I’m feeling pressured'. And I realised, how can I be feeling pressure at 38? Imagine young 18 year olds.

“You have that one shot and are like, ‘Damn, why did I do that?’ when you get home”.

Hamilton also talked about the effect on his mental health.

“The fact is—alcohol does not help with that,” he admitted.