The big numbers behind Hamilton’s off-track empire

He was inspired by Ayrton Senna, nurtured by Ron Dennis, and wooed by Niki Lauda to replace Michael Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton's star has ascended with the help of some rather special people.

None, however, can have foreseen the degree to which the journey from Stevenage to superstardom would take Britain's most successful grand prix driver of all time far beyond the fame afforded to your typical Formula 1 world champion.

You need only have watched the now-famous appearance of a seven-year-old Lewis on BBC's Blue Peter, or have been in the audience at the 1996 Autosport Awards, to know that here was someone different. Then followed his apprenticeship at McLaren, and a meteoric rise through the junior racing formulae.

But nothing suggested he would necessarily reach the global superstardom that Lewis Hamilton has achieved today: multiple world champion, global brand ambassador, fashionista, musician and social media influencer, who cares about the environment and isn't afraid to say so.

Some find it hard to reconcile an F1 world champion becoming passionate about the health of the planet, but Hamilton has long since learned to ignore the trolls and do things his own way.

"I know what it's like to feel like an outsider," he wrote on Instagram earlier this year. "As a kid, I was always the last pick of the teams in the playground. I was one of only three black kids in my school. I know the sadness that comes with feeling like you don't fit in, or not being accepted for who you are. And I know what it's like to be bullied for it too."

Lewis has described learning how to defend himself by embracing the discipline of karate, and being taught how 'to be fearless'. This school of hard knocks and racism influenced Hamilton's life and led to his adoption of the phrase 'Still I Rise' from the epic poem of the same name by American poet, singer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. To read it is to understand the man a little more. It is this combination of a tough personal journey combined with extraordinary achievement that attracts audiences to Hamilton from far beyond F1, and the appeal is not new either.

Back in 2007, a minor commotion developed outside a restaurant in central London, with security clearing a passage through a line of paparazzi outside. Word soon went around that it was Lewis Hamilton in the company of rapper Sean Combs. It transpired that the music mogul known as 'Diddy' had managed to get hold of the McLaren driver's mobile number and had called him directly. Hamilton would later recount that he was playing golf at the time and thought the call was a wind-up. Combs, these days reputed to be worth something shy of a billion dollars, just wanted to have dinner.

In only his first season in F1, Hamilton had already begun to taste the potential that comes from reaching the pinnacle and winning. Beyonce Knowles had provided tickets to one of her concerts and Combs would introduce the young driver to rapper Pharrell Williams and British star Natasha Bedingfield. The floodgates to the music industry soon fell open.

Hamilton's love of music, combined with having almost instant access to the cream of
 the industry in the UK and America, gave him 
an outlet through which to enjoy down time. 
It is a side of Lewis Hamilton that few in motor racing know about, or understand. To the parochial F1 community it can seem like a distraction, but as the seasons have passed the on-track success has accelerated. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits these outside interests really work for his star driver.

"Lewis is somebody who needs to be able to pursue his other ambitions," Wolff told the
BBC's Andrew Benson last July. "If he's able
 to do a fashion show that excites him, or record some music... he can come back stronger and more energised."

Music culture in America is ethnically diverse. Achievement is recognised and talent celebrated, particularly if the path to success has been a bumpy one. Hamilton has felt welcomed and lauded as a young man from a mixed-race background who has conquered the world.
 The first title with McLaren was one thing, 
but the Lauda-inspired move to Mercedes has led to an unprecedented level of achievement and recognition.

In the UK, Hamilton's appearances on chat-shows including Parkinson, The Jonathan Ross Show and The Graham Norton Show have been dwarfed by the profile generated in America through interviews on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen Show with Ellen Degeneres, The Late Late Show with James Corden and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

This is not easy work. Hamilton must cope with inevitable 'what is Formula 1?' questions: How fast do they go? How much is an F1 car worth? Do you want to move to NASCAR? He takes each in his stride, understands the opportunity that is afforded to him by being on these platforms. While some at home complain about Lewis developing an unappealing mid-Atlantic twang, American media complement him on his 'lovely British accent'. Once again it sets him apart.

His relationship with Nicole Scherzinger might have promoted Hamilton onto the society sections of media around the world, but being seen in the company of singers Rhianna, Christina Aguilera, Jess Stone and Rita Ora, or with models Winnie Harlow and Gigi Hadid, means the paparazzi are never far away. This is the world of Hamilton beyond F1.

If music is a first love, fashion is his passion. One complements the other. Having spent time with design icons such as Donatella Versace and the late Karl Lagerfield, Hamilton's appearance on the red carpet at the $30,000-per-ticket Met Gala measures the degree to which he has well and truly arrived among the US A-List. Getting invited to the New York event requires the approval of Vogue's Anna Wintour, not someone impressed by qualifying modes 
or soft-compound tyres...

It came as little surprise when Hamilton's interest in fashion led to a high-profile collaboration with an established design house, in this case Tommy Hilfiger. A brand that came to prominence thanks to investors including Racing Point's owner Lawrence Stroll, the Tommy Hilfiger name is by no means new to F1, having previously sponsored Ferrari in the 1990s.

Its eponymous owner is a fashion legend. Hamilton and Hilfiger launched their first collection in September 2018, featuring a whirlwind tour that took in Milan, London, Shanghai and New York, in between the Italian and Singapore Grands Prix - both of which Hamilton won, incidentally.

Hilfiger is twice Hamilton's age, but they clearly click. Three TommyXLewis collections have been launched to date, the spring 2019 collection in March being followed by the most recent in September.

Hamilton is central to the design philosophy and, for a company that generated $9.7 billion in revenues in 2018, this
 is also key business strategy.

The Tommy Hilfiger relationship extends beyond Hamilton's role as a global brand ambassador; the company also supporting the Mercedes F1 team. It is Hamilton who is the pivotal element in that relationship. This speaks volumes for the balance of power when it comes to the driver and team negotiating future deals, for you have the best driver and a commercial powerhouse rolled into one.

Brand ambassadorships are baseline business for celebrity sports stars, and Hamilton's social media feeds demonstrate his strength. Aside from Tommy Hilfiger, brands including Puma, Monster Energy, Police, Bose, IWC and Vodafone are recent beneficiaries of Hamilton's social media presence. With 13.2m followers on Instagram, 5.6m on Twitter and 4.1m on Facebook, his social media audience is larger than any other driver in F1.

On Instagram alone, Lewis has more followers than the next 10 drivers in the world championship combined. A recent analysis of celebrity media showed a single social media post by Hamilton is worth around £40,000.

The direct reach is one thing, but Hamilton's social media network goes far beyond the mere numbers count on his own feeds.

In the past two years, he has interacted with footballers Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr and Gerard Pique, while befriending actors such as Will Smith, Zendaya Coleman, Tom Holland and Millie Bobby Brown, which further underscores Hamilton's Hollywood appeal.

Hamilton has already made cameo appearances in Pixar's Cars franchise, and Zoolander 2, and he holds wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson in high esteem as someone who moved seamlessly from sports entertainment to pure entertainment.

The cumulative Instagram network for Hamilton's top 20 friends, collaborators and associates is a spectacular 950 million people.

Throw in those following the brands he is associated with and the Hamilton network on Instagram alone represents a billion followers. No wonder companies are lining up to work with him...

One of the key reasons behind Hamilton's success on social media is that his posts are personal and authentic. Those that are officially sponsored or promoted are marked as such, but his willingness to share photographs and videos from his life beyond F1 really hits the mark with fans. The content that he posts is rich and varied.

His dogs Roscoe and Coco are as popular with the fans as they are with Hamilton himself, but his love for high fashion, music, supercars and motorcycles features strongly. So too his personal interests in environmental awareness, sustainability, veganism, animal welfare and children's charities. The content comes across as heart-felt and genuine.

As is the way with social media, the trolls are never far away, but the former victim of schoolboy bullying is a veteran when it comes to dismissing negativity.

When his plant-based diet spurred much online comment, Hamilton's response was to open a vegan burger restaurant in London's fashionable Mayfair. This is the result of a collaboration with hospitality company The Cream Group and Italian investor Tommaso Chiabra, one of the leading backers of meat-substitute company Beyond Meat.

It plays perfectly to Hamilton's philosophy of answering
 his critics through positive action.

Managing this stellar career and burgeoning interests beyond F1 is no mean feat, and Hamilton controls his own destiny through the London-based management company Project 44.

Initially managed by father Anthony, who guided him from karting to F1, Hamilton then signed a four-year deal with entertainment impresario Simon Fuller's XIX Group. At the end of 2014, Lewis moved into the arms of the Los Angeles-based Endeavour Group, which was created following the $2.4 billion takeover of the legendary IMG sports and media company by William Morris Endeavour. That deal ran its course.

Now he's in full control of his career and business destiny, Hamilton's next moves will be watched with interest. A contract renewal with Mercedes beckons for 2021, with observers expecting Lewis to sign a two-year or two-plus-one extension unless lured elsewhere. Beyond that, the worlds of fashion and music seem set to feature strongly alongside business investments, as well as continuing to act as global brand ambassador for companies eager to tap into the profile of Formula 1's dominant personality.

When Hamilton stepped on board his Mercedes W10 to commence testing ahead of this year's world championship he had outlived his hero Ayrton Senna by a day. Michael Schumacher, whose every record is being dismantled by Hamilton's ongoing achievements, was robbed of a happy retirement
 as a result of that fateful skiing accident in 2013. For all their achievements on the race track, we never got to see what the future held for Senna
 or Schumacher post-F1.

With career earnings set to approach $500 million, Hamilton is thus on the threshold of having not only the most successful career in F1 history - whether measured by results, income or global profile - but also of building an empire beyond the sport the like of which has never been seen before.

He is already on top of the world, but the phenomenon that is Lewis Hamilton is a story with many chapters still left to run.