On-track, as a modern-day figurehead and naturally, when you take numbers into consideration, Hamilton is head and shoulders above his peers. His six world titles, 84 career wins and 88 podiums mark him out in his field in this regard. But off-track, now that's a different story. Hamilton's transformation over the years has been a remarkable one to witness.
Obviously, such progress has come with maturity and understanding, an appreciation of not only the world around him but of his position within it. Hamilton has recognised not just his standing as an inspiring sporting figure, hewn from a humble background and powered by a father who once held down three jobs to fund the early years of his son's karting ambitions. But primarily he has been made acutely aware of the colour of his skin, that he stands almost alone in what is a white-dominated sport.
Sadly, Hamilton has been subjected to the abhorrence of racism over the years, all too often turning a blind eye and carefully choosing his words in response so as not to add fuel to a fire.
Yes, he has had his faux pas moments, never more so than in May 2011 following the Monaco Grand Prix when, after being penalised twice by the stewards en route to finishing sixth, he infamously quipped: “Maybe it's cos I'm black. That's what Ali G says.”
Hamilton was forced to apologise for his words, for a rare moment when he suggested – joke or otherwise – that being a black person had played a part in a sequence of events that had worked against him on track. It was a low moment, but one he has evolved from, evidenced by the fact that nine years on he has delivered powerful messages of late in the wake of the shocking death of George Floyd in the US.