BREAKING: Fans Overjoyed as Nicolas Hamilton Makes a Wonderful Announcement After New Partnership With…

BREAKING: Fans Overjoyed as Nicolas Hamilton Makes a Wonderful Announcement After New Partnership With Trailblazing Brand as He Reveals Bold Ambition

Nicolas Hamilton is aiming to smash down the barriers facing disabled people in motorsport with an ambitious plan for a first-of-its-kind race team.

The British Touring Car Championship driver, who is the younger brother of seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, wants to create the first fully disabled and neurodiverse racing outfit, as well as make the sport more accessible.

To help him achieve his dream, the 34-year-old, who lives with cerebral palsy and made history when he became the first disabled driver to compete in the BTCC in 2015, has joined forces with Royal London to diversify its Levelling the Playing Field programme from the rugby pitch to the racetrack.

And although there remains plenty of work ahead in order to make Hamilton’s dream become a reality, he is relishing the prospect of getting stuck into the new venture.

“I’ve always wanted to try and create a project where I can give back to disabled people, open doors for disabled people and create more opportunities for disabled people within motorsport,” said Hamilton, who drives a modified Hyundai i30N for Team VERTU.

“Is it possible? Absolutely. How is it going to work? We’re not fully sure yet, and that’s the whole excitement around starting something new and being the first to have ever done something like that.”

Royal London’s Levelling the Playing Field initiative initially focused on women’s rugby, including a £3 million investment in player and coach pathways across the four Home Unions and being the Founding Partner of the first British & Irish Lions Women’s rugby team, which will tour New Zealand next year.

Now the pensions and investment company’s partnership with Hamilton takes that work into a completely different sporting arena. But Hamilton insists the project is not about putting himself in the spotlight, but it is about giving others the foundations to go on and thrive.

“It’s not really about me,” Hamilton, who began his racing career in April 2011, explained. “I’m now here in service of others, and I just want to help the next generation, and the current generation, to be more accepted when it comes to their disability.

“I want to create the platform, then step back and let everybody else have all of the fame and the glitz and the glamour, because they all deserve it.”

Hamilton first drove a race car aged 18, taking a BMW M3 around a track at a driving school in Bedford in September 2010, and that was the moment he realised he could pursue a career behind the wheel.

“Take the Hamilton name out, Lewis had a disabled brother, and my parents had a disabled son, and they tried their utmost to make my life as non-chaotic as possible,” he continued.

“To be able to show them physically that I’d come from a wheelchair to being able to drive a car, I was so proud to show them that I could do that.

“And from there, it sparked a light-bulb moment for me. Since then, I’ve always asked, ‘How do I make my disability faster?’”

Hamilton described his first taste of driving as a ‘powerful moment’, and now his message is that he believes everyone should be able to share in that.

He added: “Disability is everywhere. Neurodiversity is everywhere as well. So, creating a team that has neurodivergent individuals in it and physically disabled individuals in it will create a story and a project that is relatable for a lot of people worldwide.

“Whatever disability you have, whether you’re neurodivergent, whatever culture you have, [the message is] you come as you are, we accept you, and we’ll give you an opportunity.”

Susie Logan, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Royal London, said: “Through Levelling the Playing Field, we back sporting firsts that can open doors for others and create meaningful, long-term change. Nicolas has already challenged perceptions by competing at the highest level of British Touring Car racing, and his ambition goes far beyond his own success.

“By working together, we want to help increase visibility for disabled and neurodivergent talent, explore what is needed to create more inclusive pathways into motorsport, and support Nicolas’s vision for a fully disabled and neurodiverse race team. We are proud to use our partnerships to help build a fairer and more inclusive future.”