Lewis Hamilton's first-ever teammate describes him as 'confident and self-assured' but 'not in an arrogant way'

Lewis Hamilton's first-ever teammate in a single-seater racing series, Matthews Howson, recently spoke about what Hamilton was like when he was young and moving up the ranks to become an F1 driver. Hamilton and Howson were teammates in Formula Renault all the way back in 2001.

Speaking on the On Track Podcast recently, Howson initially explained how confident Lewis Hamilton was right from the get-go. However, he assured the podcast listeners that it was not in an arrogant or negative way. Howson praised the seven-time world champion for being compassionate and for how he genuinely cared about people around him.

He said:

“I think what was really clear from the beginning was how confident and self-assured he was, but not in an arrogant way. He was actually a very nice guy, Lewis was – very compassionate, and sort of cared about what you were doing.”

Howson pointed out how people may have taken his confidence as arrogance. He added that the Briton was never overconfident about getting into F1:

“When it became clear in the earlier tests that I was a little bit quicker, there was then mutual respect for that. I always felt that, compared to what anyone would think, ‘Oh, he’s probably arrogant, he probably knows he’s going to Formula 1, and that’s why he’s so friendly'—no, I think he’s just genuinely like that.”

Matthews Howson further explained how Lewis Hamilton's confident personality right from an early age must have helped him in his long and successful career in Formula 1:

“So I think that’s a big character, it’s a sign of strength, not a weakness to be like that. When you look at his career and how he’s gone through his Formula 1 years, that kind of personality that he has, which is very calm, very self-assured, has really been to his benefit.”

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Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes' 2024 F1 car development

Lewis Hamilton recently spoke about how he and Mercedes are trying to drastically improve their 2024 F1 car. He stated that he and George Russell have given several inputs for the car to improve so that they can bounce back to the top and fight for the championship against Red Bull.

Speaking to Rachel Brookes of Sky Sports, he said:

“There are things I’ve asked for that we’ve gone in a direction, part of the direction for next year. I think all the points that George and I give, I think have been fully listened to. In terms of, I don't know where the car is going to be next year. But we are a long, long way."

The Mercedes star added:

"We got to hope for the next six months has to be the greatest six months of development that we’ve ever ever had to close that gap, to be really banging on the door."

The Silver Arrows are dead focused on climbing back to the top and fighting for both drivers' and constructors' championships in 2024.