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The ten things you need to know about... Lewis Hamilton

By Dan Willis

Lewis Hamilton couldn't make it two out of two when he finished fifth in the Malaysian Grand Prix at the weekend. But the young Formula 1 star will no doubt be back with a vengeance in Bahrain on 6 April. Here's ten essential facts about Lewis...

1. Lewis was born on 7 January 1985.

2. His favourite music is hip-hop, R&B, reggae and funky house and he lists De La Soul as one of his favourite artists.

3. Lewis was signed by Formula 1 team McLaren at the age of 13 – he remains the youngest person ever to be signed up by an F1 team.

4. He won the British Formula Renault, European Formula Three and GP2 before becoming a McLaren F1 driver in 2007.

5. He is the first black mixed race driver to compete in Formula 1.

6. He has already claimed that he would like to race for the McLaren team for the rest of his career.

7. Hamilton finished second overall behind Kimi Raikkonen in his first season, notching four wins - a debut record.

8. He had several well-documented spats with team-mate Fernando Alonso during the 2007 season. The Spaniard has since left McLaren to join Renault.

9. Hamilton’s nine consecutive podium finishes were both a debut record and a British record.

10. He came runner-up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2007 and won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award in February 2008.

Watch how Hamilton gets on in the Formula 1 season on Motorsport Mundial, available On Demand in Motorsport every Monday for 99p.

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