Hamilton reveals a self-discovery trip to Africa has helped him overcome difficulties

"It's not until I've got into my 30s that I've wanted to go down this road of discovery, to try to understand, where did we get the Hamilton name? Where were we originally from? Where did the slaves come over on the ships from the Caribbean?"

That's what Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports in his emotional opening up about his recent trip to Africa, which served as much more than a typical holiday journey.

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In August, Formula 1 star discovered how his family got the Hamilton name.

"He was a slave owner from Scotland, Robert Hamilton, who then had a plantation, had around 150 slaves, and obviously at some stage then the slaves took on the name of the slave owner.

"There was another slave-owner whose second name was Davidson, so my grandad ended up being called Davidson-Hamilton, both of which I have in my name, so that's pretty cool just to know a little bit about that." Hamilton made his debut in 2007 when Formula 1 was not a sport where a driver of his profile would be welcomed.

"Having to operate in an organisation that was predominantly white, having to speak differently, be different, I remember the pressures of the idea that I had to be different," said Hamilton, who remains the only Black driver to have raced in F1.

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While reflecting on the past still troubles Hamilton, he says it is also what partly motivated him to travel to Africa.

"I think it was just really trying to understand your place in the world," he says. "Growing up, I had a lot of traumatic experiences with discrimination, that even just recently I was visiting my parents and they said 'you never told us about that'."

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Another key factor in planning his trip, was finding purpose after the dramatic conclusion to the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi in December. Hamilton had driven flawlessly and was set to be crowned champion, before a hugely controversial ad-hoc ruling from the race director saw Max Verstappen overtake him on the final lap.

"I made the decision in January that I was going to take on that kind of discovery," Hamilton said. "After New Year's, I was thinking about how I want to live with more intention and plan ahead, which I never ever do. It's kind of everything spur of the moment, and most often, when it's like that, you don't always optimise the time, you're not always where you really want to be."

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Thankfully for Hamilton, his decision to plan ahead helped ensure he was not left to despair.

"It was one of, if not the most, special experience for me," Hamilton said. "Just to tap into a little bit of Africa and experience a few different countries.

"I didn't go to the wealthy parts, I know there's a lot of wealth and great buildings and businesses, but I really wanted to get to the rarest and rawest part of countries, and see how people live with very little.

"That for me was really empowering, just to think that my ancestors would have been in one of those tribes, and it's beautiful."

Hamilton posted updates on social media as he spent time in Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Tanzania, describing himself on Instagram as "fully transformed" at the end of his two-week trip.

"We live in such a bubble," he reflects. "There's so much happening around the world, and so many people are struggling with so much. It's sad to see if you really sit and watch the news because it feels like it's worse than ever.

"That experience of going to Africa, seeing people with so little - I say so little but they also have everything, they're so happy - but just seeing a different way of living. We accumulate too much stuff, we eat too much food, the things that we take for granted, people don't have that luxury and I think it's really great to have that experience to put things into perspective.

"There, it was just when I was most at peace. The motherland has a special energy there, it is like the centre of the earth. I could feel those vibrations there. It was also the music, the smiles of the people, the way people share their energy. I saw so many things that I didn't know I was going to experience."