Lewis Hamilton on Producing Brad Pitt’s ‘F1,’ His Fashion Design Ambitions, and Co-Hosting the Met Gala

There are well-dressed sportspeople—and then there’s Lewis Hamilton. For every athlete cajoled by their stylist into a loud suit here or a bold accessory choice there, you have Hamilton. The legendary Formula 1 driver and 2024 GQ Style Champion’s love for clothes is boundless and, refreshingly, from the heart. For years, he’s proved that he’s as adept in the world of fashion as he is behind the wheel. Now, fresh from launching his inaugural season at Ferrari, the world champion has been announced as Lululemon’s newest global ambassador.

The current year is set to be one of Hamilton’s biggest yet. He’s racing for Ferrari at the pinnacle of his career. In May, he’s co-chairing the Met Gala. Then he’s producing and appearing in Joseph Kosinski’s film F1. And that’s just the first six months. Hamilton, lounging on a plush sofa in a west London photography studio, is, as you would expect, absolutely buzzing. “It’s been like when you’re excited for Christmas,” he says. “To start off the year with so much drive and so much energy…it’s a good feeling.”

In person, Hamilton is charming, soft-spoken, and heavy on eye contact. As we crisscross discussing his upcoming projects, he talks more and more animatedly, his leg bouncing in sync. It’s a touch trite to say his excitement is palpable but, well, it’s written all over his face. First up, we’re here to discuss his appointment as a global ambassador for Lululemon. It may not be household knowledge that the athletic apparel brand also caters to men. Hamilton, for one, was unaware.

“I didn’t actually know they were doing men’s,” he says. “Obviously, there were women that I’d met who would just be raving about Lululemon—I was like, ‘Uh, I can’t wear the leggings!’” Hamilton has experienced shoddy training gear in the past—last year he cut off the sleeves from all his workout tops—and he’s been eager to find a brand that shares his approach to fitness clothing.

“I’m looking for that extra one percent,” he says, and he found it at Lululemon.

Courtesy of Lululemon

The pitch from Lululemon was “impressive,” but the proof was in the pudding for the F1 champ; he tried on Lululemon’s menswear and connected with how it felt. “Honestly, running, being in the gym [with] the weight, the feel of the fabric, it’s so rich. Feel is everything,” he says. “When it comes to all the fabrics that I work with—when I’m designing clothes for example—the material is very, very important for me. There’s some brands I just can’t wear because it’s itchy.” Today he’s in head to toe pearly-white Lululemon, and very happily sleeveless. “The silhouette is very important,” he says, running a hand over his joggers. “I love color-matching things; you want to look good when you go somewhere to work out.”

Aside from his ambassador role at Lululemon, Hamilton already has his own clothing line—Plus 44—and in October he devised a capsule collection with Kim Jones and Dior. “Working with and learning from Kim Jones has been a mind-blowing, incredible experience,” he says. There’s another collaboration with Jones in the offing, presumably one of the designer’s final efforts before leaving Dior. “I can’t wait for you to see the new stuff,” says Hamilton with a smile. “I don’t want to beef it up, but it’s really, really good.”

Last year, Hamilton told GQ that his post-racing ambitions are film and fashion. Could we see the racing driver follow a similar route to Pharrell, who gradually made inroads to fashion before hard-launching as men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton? Hamilton is thoughtful and realistic about his ambitions. “I’m very much conscious of doing the groundwork,” he explains. “If you look at the start of great designers out there, they’ve been grinding for years and years and years. I’m conscious that I couldn’t creative direct, I’m not at that point yet, but I’m using these as stepping stones. I’m really building up my experience—it’s like internships that I’m doing—and I hope that at some stage it provides me to a point where I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m ready now to truly lead and stand alone.’”

In May, timed delicately between the Miami and Imola Grands Prix, Hamilton is co-chairing the Met Gala alongside Colman Domingo, Pharrell, A$AP Rocky and, of course, Anna Wintour. He’s been a Met Gala regular for years and met Wintour in passing. The pair finally connected when they were seated together at Wimbledon. “We just realized that we had so much more in common,” he says. “She doesn’t want to talk about fashion all day, she’s really into tennis, so we had this great conversation and our friendship blossomed from there. I’ve sat in a hotel room with her for an hour and a half just yapping, it’s been so cool.”

For the 2021 Met Gala, Hamilton purchased a table and invited up-and-coming Black designers. With his co-hosting this year, he’s keen to expand on that commitment. “We’ve been discussing how we can make this [Met Gala] grow from that and make it even more special and more inclusive,” he says. And no, he’s not yet chosen a designer for his look. “We’re still in the process of figuring out what that’s going to be, but what I do know is that we really have to continue to create space.”

In terms of designers Hamilton is keen to work with more generally, there’s one name at the top of the list. “Grace Wales Bonner,” he says with obvious excitement. “I really love Grace, I love her attention to detail. I love the background work she does. She’s very intentional with her work.” If you wanted to place money on Hamilton’s Met Gala designer, Wales Bonner, who’s part of the host committee this year, seems like a good bet.

Courtesy of Lululemon

In the summer, Hamilton is making his foray into the world of film production. He was originally supposed to have a supporting role in Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick, but racing commitments prevented it from happening. Now Hamilton is gearing up to release F1, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, directed by Kosinski and produced by his own production company, Dawn Apollo Films. “To do the first production this big is nuts,” he says, “because it’ll be hard to beat it.”

Hamilton makes an appearance in the film and he was able to show Pitt and Idris the ropes on set. “From the beginning of Brad starting to drive and being there on day one, taking him around the track, it’s been really cool to be a part of that,” he says. Hamilton, a huge film fan, sees himself ending up in Hollywood, and F1 is simply his first pitstop on the way to that destination. “When I stop racing, that’s something I’d really love to get more into,” he says.

But until that fateful day, there’s only the teeny, tiny matter of a debut season at Ferrari. Light work.

This story originally appeared on British GQ.