Newly Sober F1 Racer Lewis Hamilton Says He Feels ‘So Much More Clarity’ Since Ditching Booze
McLaren Racing driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain looks on from his team’s box before the third free practice session before the European Formula One Grand Prix at the Valecia racetrack, in June 2011 in Valencia, Spain. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
On Tuesday, Vogue reported that Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton has given up drinking. The outlet cited that the Almave founder has been sober for four months and counting, and it looks like he isn’t planning on breaking the streak any time soon.
The champion race car driver had been drinking since the tender age of 16, according to the outlet.
“I’ll suffer for several days — sometimes it’ll be like three or four days,” Hamilton lamented, according to Vogue. “I’ve always been looking for how do you get that extra 1%. As an athlete, that’s what you are always doing.”
The Formula 1 star claimed that alcohol “threw him off his peak” during the training process.
Hamilton admitted adopting a sober lifestyle made it a bit more difficult within a social setting and that the racing star often felt the need to imbibe while spending time with his friends.
“There is a pressure within a social setting. You have that one shot and are like, ‘Damn, why did I do that?’ when you get home,” he said
Hamilton expressed to Vogue that the peer pressure to indulge in booze particularly troubled him:
“I was like, wow that’s kind of crazy how I’m feeling pressured. And I realized, how can I be feeling pressure at 38? Imagine young 18 year olds.”
In addition to booze throwing him off his game, Hamilton cited the pressures of his high-profile career and celebrity as other reasons for ditching the hootch: “Alcohol does not help with that.”
Hamilton founded his non-alcoholic tequila brand, Almave, in October. The British racer cited that Almave was made using tequila-making practices, and it appears Hamilton’s venture into booze-free alternative beverages may have been a financially savvy move.
The Rise of Sober Curiosity — More Than Just a Fad?
According to Forbes, the non-alcoholic beverage market exceeded $11 billion in revenue for 2022. The category is expected to grow as the sober-curious movement increases in popularity, and many participants cite mental health as a reason for adopting the lifestyle.
The National Library of Medicine writes that “alcohol affects the brain in many ways, and it is likely that high doses will cause feelings of sadness (i.e., depression) during intoxication that evolve into feelings of nervousness (i.e., anxiety) during the subsequent hangover and withdrawal.”
As of June, Beverage Daily claimed that a third of consumers said they would be interesting in adapting a sober curious lifestyle, citing mental health as the main reason. 32% of 22 to 44 year olds claim to be drinking less in order to preserve their mental health.
In October, the World Health Organization claimed that no amount of alcohol was safe for consumption, igniting a firestorm within the wine world. At a Lifestyle, Diet, Wine and Health conference held in Toledo Spain, experts pushed back against the damning claims.
“We are under attack from fundamentalists — people with idology,” ViniPortugal President Frederico Falcão said.
Those at the conference touted the alleged health benefits of moderate drinking, particularly in conjunction with the Mediterranean diet.
“We have a life of high well-being,” concluded D. Fernando Miranda, Spain’s general secretary of agriculture and food.
Yet regardless of this information, it seems like the booze-free life is working for Hamilton, considering he placed second in the Mexico City Grand-Prix at the end of October.
“I don’t know if I’m going to drink again,” Hamilton told Vogue. “Since I’ve stopped drinking, I’ve just been feeling so much better, so much more clarity. I sleep better. I wake up in the morning and I can still get up at 5 a.m.”
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