LEWIS HAMILTON will be honoured with a knighthood as part of the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.
This year, the Brit won the F1 championship for a record-equalling seventh time in while he also surpassed Michael Schumacher‘s all-time win record of 91 victories.
The 35-year-old has been upgraded after he was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to motor racing, while he has juggled his racing with raising awareness to equal rights, anti-racism and environmental causes.
Hamilton will join fellow motor-racing stars, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart and Sir Jack Brabham with knighthoods – as exclusively revealed he would back in November.
Williams founders Sir Frank Williams and Sir Patrick Head also had the honour bestowed upon them.
The Stevenage-born racer won the title by 124 points and missed the penultimate race after being struck down with Covid-19.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “Lewis is one of the very greatest racing drivers of all time and the most successful British sportsperson of his era.
“Around the world, he has long been recognised for his sporting achievement; this year, he combined his excellence on the track with a powerful voice to fight discrimination.
“In every sense, he led the way in 2020.
“The news that he is to receive a knighthood shows that he is now receiving the recognition he has earned during a career of unparalleled success in motorsport.
“The UK can be very proud to have a champion and ambassador of the calibre of Sir Lewis Hamilton.”
Stefano Domenicali, the new CEO of F1, added: “Lewis is a true giant of our sport and his influence is huge both in and out of a car.
“What he has achieved is phenomenal with still more to come.
“All of us at Formula One congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition of his achievements and look forward to seeing more of his brilliance in 2021.”
Hamilton, whose current Mercedes contract expires on Thursday, is expected to put pen to paper on a two-year £40million a year deal.
