Lewis Hamilton Reveals His First Side Hustle That Helped Him Afford To Race

The Mercedes driver opens up on the early stages of his career.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed what he did as a side hustle when he was younger that helped him and his family pay for his racing career.

The Mercedes driver spoke about his love of cars whilst making an appearance on the Supercar Blondie YouTube channel. Host Alexandra Mary Hirschi drove Hamilton around Dubai and explained that she was slightly "intimidated" by having him as a passenger. The British driver responded:

"Don't! I'm the best passenger, I'm the most chill passenger.

"I actually genuinely prefer being a passenger than driving.

"I hardly ever drive"

The F1 icon went on to reveal that he used to wash cars when he was younger as a side hustle, explaining that it started with his first car which was a Mini. He continued:

"When I was young, I remember I had a Mini and I used to clean my car multiple times. I used to keep it just spotless.

"And I ended up when I was younger, to make a bit of money, I was cleaning cars. So, I was cleaning as many people's cars on the street and I would do a really great job, like I would T-Cut people's cars."

When quizzed on how much he used to charge, Hamilton responded:

"I think when I first did it, it was probably about ten pounds or something like that. But then I eventually got it up to like fifty quid per car."

Hamilton has not revealed too much about his Mini, which according to BestLookingCars.com would be valued at around $23,000 right now, but explained in another recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel that he uses it to keep a low profile when driving around his home town. He explained:

"I have an old Mini Cooper, like the Mr. Bean car, and I go and take it back into the town I grew up in and drive down memory lane. 

"I go past my first school, I go past my first house. No one would expect me in that car, that's for sure."