As one of the world’s biggest Formula 1 stars and with retirement just around the corner, Lewis Hamilton might have been forgiven for taking a step away from the limelight.
The sports star, 41, has achieved success many could only dream of, having won a record-equalling seven World Championships since joining the circuit in 2007.
However, over his years on the grid, the racing veteran has also become known as a savvy businessman, securing brand deals and collaborations that further his fame and fortune outside the world of multi-million-pound dream machines.
Which is why some have been left wondering whether Hamilton’s latest, explosive, re-emergence in the social spotlight – with reports of a new ‘relationship’ with Kim Kardashian – is in fact just another ploy to boost his personal brand.
Indeed, sources told the Daily Mail that the pair were using this liaison to cash in and achieve even greater fame as a power couple.
Because for all his brilliance behind the wheel, Lewis has long-harboured a far greater ambition: to embed himself in the upper echelons of global celebrity and fashion culture.
Which is why his newly reported ‘romance’ with the 45-year-old American reality television star and entrepreneur, Kim K, has raised eyebrows in both sporting and show business circles.
Insiders tell the Daily Mail that the relationship – played out so far through private jets, a five-star country hotel and impeccably timed sightings – is less a love story and more a mutually beneficial arrangement between two of the most brand-conscious figures on the planet.
‘Lewis has an insatiable desire to be famous outside of motor racing,’ says one former associate. ‘It was embarrassing at times, especially when he would attach himself to the most famous woman he could find.
‘There was much criticism levelled at him for his obsession with being celebrity.’
The romance rumours between the pair began circulating last weekend after they were seen together during a discreet but telling stay at Estelle Manor – the ultra-exclusive Cotswolds members’ club favoured by Hollywood actors, global financiers and high-powered fashion executives.
Kim flew into Oxfordshire on her £100million private jet accompanied by three bodyguards, touching down at Oxford Airport on Saturday afternoon.
Two waiting cars made the 18-minute journey to the estate. Lewis arrived separately an hour later, flying in by helicopter from London.
Insiders say the pair shared a room in the main house – where suites start from £1,000 a night – before enjoying a couples’ massage and a private dinner away from the other guests.
‘It all appeared to be very romantic,’ said one onlooker.
The choreography continued on Sunday morning.
The couple checked out of the establishment at around 11am and departed together in the same vehicles that had collected Kim.
Lewis exited via the front entrance, while the US superstar was ushered out through a side door, her presence betrayed only by the sight of eight personalised suitcases bearing her name.
Making it even more obvious, last night Kim was in Paris to promote the collaboration between Skims, her shapewear and clothing company, and Nike.
And arriving with her in the city of love was none other than Lewis.
The pair reportedly flew in together by private jet from the UK.
Hamilton’s hunger for fame beyond he racing circuit, sources say, can be traced back more than a decade.
In 2011, the Ferrari driver made a pivotal move that quietly signalled a shift in his priorities. He parted ways with his father Anthony – his long-time manager – and signed with Simon Fuller, the media mogul behind the Spice Girls and the original architect of ‘Brand Beckham’.
The mission was clear: turn Lewis into something more than an F1 hero. A transatlantic superstar. A fashion name. A cultural force – in the mould and style of David Beckham.
That plan is still operational; just last year Lewis told GQ that his post-racing ambitions are ‘film and fashion’.
Having quickly ticked off Hollywood after he starred in and was credited as a producer in Brad Pitt’s film F1 last year – which was nominated for multiple Golden Globes and Academy Awards – it appears fashion is his next target.
And who better to help him than fashion mogul Kim? Better still, they can help each other.
Often working with top designers, the F1 driver has certainly experimented with fashion throughout his career.
‘I lived vicariously through magazines and music videos and films,’ he said in a cover story for US Vogue.
‘The people I looked up to – it was Muhammad Ali, it was Michael Jordan, it was Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop wearing that cool leather jacket. And then a little bit later I started to learn about [jazz singer] Cab Calloway, [civil rights activist] James Baldwin, Nelson Mandela and [fashion journalist] Andre Leon Talley. I saw how their image was so important to them, and how they presented themselves through fashion.’
In 2025, he was co-chair of the Met Gala, where he wore a show-stopping all-white suit decorated with shells. That same year Kim wore a crocodile leather gown and hat.
He worked with athleisure firm Lululemon, becoming a brand ambassador in 2024 and has his own clothing range – Plus 44. In October last year he devised a capsule collection with Kim Jones, the artistic director at Dior.
Meanwhile, Kim, who launched Skims in 2019, has worked with some very high-profile athletes in the past in a bid to push her brand towards the audience of many of these players.
The company, which has been valued at $5billion, owes much of its success to collaborations with some globally influential sports personalities.
Real Madrid and England hotshot Jude Bellingham, 22, modelled his Skims boxers in June 2024.
Tennis legend Serena Williams, 44, also posed for the Nike and Skims collaboration ad campaign in September last year, alongside Paralympic athlete Beatriz Hatz, 25.
NFL star Nick Bosa, 28, was sponsored by the brand in 2023, as was NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 27 and Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr, 33.
Kim’s company even bagged a deal with Team USA for the Olympic summer games where she worked with track stars Gabby Thomas, 29, and Fred Kerley, 30.
Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles, 28, wore the loungewear and bathrobes as part of a campaign in 2024 and again this year.
Not a bad roll call, but F1 is one of the few sports Kardashian is yet to conquer.
A source said: ‘The Kardashians have access to pretty much everyone else and they’re incredibly business minded.
‘F1 as a sport has grown massively in recent years and Kim will have recognised that. Lewis is a friend of the family, and both of them will be using that to their advantage.’
It seems Lewis had embedded himself within the Kardashian inner clique long before talk of romance between the pair.
He and Kim have moved in the same circles for more than a decade, first pictured together publicly in 2014 at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London alongside their then-partners, Nicole Scherzinger and Kanye West respectively.
The following year, Lewis was welcomed into the family fold after Kanye invited him to spend Easter with the Kardashians.
‘Lewis Hamilton’s over at my house and we’re playing some music in my studio,’ the now-disgraced rapper said at the time. ‘We’re having an Easter brunch and all of the family’s there, my wife’s family, my friends, everything.’
Later that summer, Lewis joined Kim and her family in the VIP section when Kanye headlined Glastonbury.
Around the same period, Hamilton was also being linked to Kendall Jenner, then one of the most sought-after supermodels in the world – and, of course, Kim’s younger sister.
At the time, none of it seemed particularly noteworthy.
But looking back, it paints a picture of a relationship with the Kardashian dynasty that has been years in the making.
To fans of Kim, though, the news from the weekend will have come as a shock.
Because just last week she appeared on her sister Khloe Kardashian’s podcast, where she made it very clear that she wasn’t interested in dating anyone.
Asked if she has been seeing anyone privately in the last year, she said: ‘Honestly, no, isn’t that crazy. I haven’t. I feel good and I feel like my kids need me.
‘I haven’t had time and I am okay with that. I haven’t found anyone and that’s ok.’
Meanwhile, throughout his career, Lewis has been repeatedly linked to some of the world’s most famous women.
Perhaps his most significant relationship was with Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger, whom he dated on and off for eight years until their final split in 2015.
But even that long-running romance prompted raised eyebrows behind the scenes.
‘Nicole Scherzinger was the chosen one for a long time, nobody could ever work out if it was real or not,’ a source tells the Daily Mail. ‘Not even those who were around him on a daily basis.’
And from there the names attached to the F1 driver only grew more illustrious.
He was linked to global superstar singer Rihanna after the pair were seen together at a Carnival in Barbados, while rumours also swirled around pop star Rita Ora, who was photographed leaving his apartment and later spotted supporting him at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
There were further whispers involving supermodels including Winnie Harlow, Barbara Palvin and Gigi Hadid, all following a similar pattern of shared appearances, public denials and carefully sustained ambiguity.
Most recently, Lewis has been linked to Colombian-American model Camila Kendra, Brazilian model Juliana Nalu, actress Sofia Vergara and singer Shakira.
Last year, reports even suggested he had joined the celebrity dating app Raya while travelling the Grand Prix circuit.
But for a man who has spent more than a decade carefully shaping his post-racing identity – from film and fashion to cultural relevance beyond the paddock – the timing of his ‘closeness’ to Kim Kardashian feels anything but accidental.
