Lewis Hamilton arranged for his brother Nicolas to experience Mercedes’ Formula 1 simulator in Brackley after the season finished.
Nicolas, who is seven years younger than his seven-times world champion brother, is a racer in his own right in touring cars. He started off in Renault Clio Cup UK, then moved up to the British Touring Car Championship where he has been racing full-time since 2019.
To accommodate the difficulties presented by his cerebral palsy, the younger Hamilton races a modified car in the BTCC. Mercedes also made adjustments to the cockpit in his full-motion rig to make it more accessible for him.
Following the session, which took place around two weeks ago, Hamilton posted several photographs of his brother at Mercedes on social media and explained how the day came about.
“Earlier this year Nicolas and I asked my team if we could make this day happen and here we are,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton arranged for his brother to drive Mercedes’ simulator “Time in the sim is incredibly rare, and not something that is accessible for someone like my brother. It took custom modifications to the seat, steering wheel and pedals to make this possible.
“He spent the whole day in it, and is the first disabled person to ever do so. He’s always been a fighter and seeing him have this day is an honour. The smile you see here never left his face. Can’t wait to share more of this special day, thank you Mercedes for the time and work put in to make this possible and make my brother’s dream come true.”
The process for disabled drivers to acquire race licenses was particularly difficult until 2019, when several proposals from the FIA’s Disability and Accessibility Commission were implemented that included a new Certificate of Adaptations for vehicles of disabled drivers.
These rules have made it easier for the likes of Hamilton, Robert Wickens and Alex Zanardi to race in high-level touring car championships.
At the end of 2017, Billy Monger worked with the FIA to remove the ruling that prevented disabled individuals from driving any single-seater cars. He went on to race in Formula 3, winning the Pau Grand Prix.
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