Hamilton encourages young talents to continue studying

The Lewis Hamilton Foundation and the Motor Sports Association have jointly spearheaded a new initiative aimed at making sure children do not neglect their studies while pursuing their junior motorsport careers.

The work of both parties has resulted in a new clause being added to junior competition licenses for 2010. This requires the licence-holder to gain written permission from their school in order to get time off from studying to go racing. While the written sign-off doesn’t currently carry with it any official guidelines, it is fully expected to encourage parents and schools to work more closely together to help students more easily dovetail their academic and racing pursuits.

Speaking about the initiative on his website, Lewis Hamilton said: “When I started in karting, my dad made absolutely sure that my schoolwork wasn’t neglected, and that I was still doing the same work as the other pupils in my class.

"I was lucky: both my dad and, later, Ron Dennis and McLaren made it clear to me that I would only be able to continue racing as long as I kept up my studies. Their encouragement actually made me work harder at school – and I’ll always be grateful to them for making me do that.

"As a world champion, I feel this should be passed along to other people. When you’re just starting out in motorsport, I know there’s a feeling that anything’s possible and you want to go racing all the time – but you must never neglect your schoolwork. Your studies can’t suffer because you want to go racing – and, hopefully, this initiative will make it easier for schools and parents to achieve this."