Ferrari unveiled to the world its new car for the 2026 F1 season on Friday, before Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc hit the track.
Lewis Hamilton’s racing journey didn’t start with a kart.
It actually started with a remote-controlled car that dates back to 1990, when he was five years old.
It was recently shared by his father in a photo posted online.
And it offers a rare look at how early Hamilton’s competitive story really began.
Anthony also pointed out a broken wheel on the car, explaining that this moment led him to buy Lewis a bigger remote-controlled car.
That step, he said, was when ‘the real story began’.
Lewis later reinforced that timeline himself, sharing that by age six he was already competing in RC car racing championships.
In 1991, he earned two trophies – one for second place in the electric class and another for best newcomer in petrol-powered cars – racing against adults.
What gives the car its weight isn’t what Lewis went on to win, but how clearly it captures the very first hours spent racing alongside his dad.
She even kept it long enough for it to end up preserved in a museum, still in her name.
In all three cases, the value isn’t in rarity or price.
It’s in continuity.
For Hamilton, that continuity starts with a small RC car from 1990 – worn, imperfect, and still very much part of the story that followed.