A video of children from Lewis Hamilton’s Stevenage primary school congratulating the Formula One ace on his fifth world title has gone viral, with Lewis saying the message from “the only school I loved really brightens my day”.
Pupils at Peartree Spring JMI were filmed applauding Lewis for clinching his fifth World Championship title in Mexico, drawing the 33-year-old level with Juan Manuel Fangio’s for title wins. Only Michael Schumacher has more, with seven.
Headteacher Teresa Skeggs says the 35-second video was entirely unscripted and captured by a Formula One film crew when they visited the school.
Head boy Charlie Thompson said: “My favourite race was in Germany when Vettel crashed. You came from the back of the grid and still managed to win the race. I was very proud of you.”
Mrs Skeggs said: “We knew it would be posted on the Formula One site, but it went on Mercedes as well and there were 200,000 views last week.
“We were told Lewis would be shown the video, so the children were waiting in anticipation for his response.” Lewis – who is also a former pupil of The John Henry Newman Catholic School in Stevenage – wrote on Instagram and Twitter, where he has a combined total of 13.4m followers: “I’ve been wanting to post this and send a huge thank you to the kids at Peartree school, my first school and the only school I actually enjoyed and loved.
“Thank you for this message, it really brightens my day when I watch it.
“Keep working hard guys, keep having fun and keep your eyes on your dreams and don’t let nobody tell you you can’t achieve something. #grateful”
Lewis, who lived in Peartree Way, has revisted his former primary school several times over the years.
Mrs Skeggs said: “We are all very proud of Lewis. Sometimes Stevenage is seen quite negatively and it’s great to see someone so successful at what they do. This gives the children aspirations and they become more tangible.
“If you are a Peartree pupil you dream big!”
Stevenage Borough Council has revealed under its SG1 town centre regeneration plans it intends to name a public service hub – which will house a new library, NHS health centre, the council’s offices and more – the Lewis Hamilton Hub.
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