Considering his profession, ongoing status as Formula 1’s most successful driver, and of course, a well-documented history of being an autophile, it’s hard to imagine Sir Lewis Hamilton without his jaw-dropping car collection.
So imagine our surprise when the seven-time world champion and Scuderia Ferrari pilot recently revealed he’d offloaded everything in his multi-million-dollar garage to pursue slightly more carbon-neutral interests.
“I don’t have any cars any more. I got rid of all my cars. I’m more into art nowadays,” Hamilton – who once kept a tow truck on retainer to transport his enviable whips back home after he’d had his fun – told the press at this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix (via Reuters).
“If I was going to get a car, it would be the [Ferrari] F40. But that’s a nice piece of art.”
This development is less surprising when you factor in Hamilton’s personal politics. As a vegan and outspoken advocate of environmental issues, he’d signalled intentions to downsize the motoring rotation all the way back in 2019, making the switch to hybrid and electric models around this time, and even selling his private jet.
“I don’t drive any of the cars that I own any more. I only drive my [Mercedes] EQC,” he noted while still signed to Mercedes F1 circa 2020.
In Memoriam (Remembering Lewis Hamilton’s Car Collection)
It all began with a relatively pedestrian Mini Cooper, but as his success snowballed in Formula 1 (all the way to a record 105 race wins), so too did the tastes, paycheque/budget, and prestige access of Sir Lewis Hamilton – which obviously translated to an enviable car collection.
Ferrari 599 GTO
Lewis Hamilton’s entry into Ferrari ownership came with the 599 GTO (long before he made the jump from Mercedes F1), unveiled in 2010 as the most powerful road car Ferrari had ever produced at the time. With a 6.0-litre V12 pushing 661 bhp, it was essentially a road-legal version of the 599XX track car. L44 opted for a black finish with contrasting yellow accents rather than the conventional scarlet. Only 599 were ever built.
Ferrari 599 SA Aperta
Two years after the 599 GTO, Hamilton acquired the 599 SA Aperta for his garage. Built to celebrate Pininfarina’s 80th anniversary, just 80 examples ever rolled off the production line. The Aperta retained the same V12 but came with an open-top roof and a more aggressive stance. Hamilton notably called this one of his personal favourites when asked about his Ferrari stable. For someone who lives most of his life in a cockpit, the appeal of a rare convertible built for pure shenanigans was obvious.
Ferrari LaFerrari
By 2015, Hamilton had stepped into hypercar territory with the LaFerrari – a 950 bhp hybrid V12 with electric assistance that marked Maranello’s first foray into hybrid powertrains. Hamilton’s LaFerrari was spotted frequently in Los Angeles, blending his off-track life with the type of engineering that mirrored his day job. “The technology in this car is just incredible,” he noted in passing during interviews at the time.
Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta
The LaFerrari Aperta followed in 2018, the targa-top evolution of Ferrari’s flagship. Production was even more limited than the coupé – only 210 exist – and Hamilton’s example was said to be a deep black with red accents. The Aperta, with its open-air driving experience paired with hybrid V12 power, blurred the line between grand statement and mechanical artwork. He was often photographed with it in Monaco, where the sight of Hamilton behind the wheel seemed to match the Principality’s rarefied atmosphere.
Pagani Zonda 760 LH
Perhaps the most headline-worth feature of Lewis Hamilton’s car collection was the bespoke Pagani Zonda 760 LH. Built specifically for him, it bore his initials in its name, flaunted exposed carbon fibre, purple detailing, as well as a 7.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 mated to a manual gearbox at his insistence. The car was brutally raw – even Hamilton himself admitted, “The Zonda is terrible to drive! It’s the best-sounding car I own, but handling-wise it’s the worst.” Despite this critique, the car became a defining part of his garage before he eventually parted ways with it in 2021.
McLaren P1
Hamilton’s ties to McLaren went beyond his maiden Formula 1 title, in which the young gun announced himself to the elite motorsport – he also owned a McLaren P1 (one of only 375 produced). Delivered in a distinctive volcanic yellow, the P1 combined a twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor for 903 bhp. The P1’s balance of hybrid innovation and uncompromising speed mirrored the very traits he has always valued in his professional machinery.
Mercedes-AMG Project One
Few cars could match the symbolism of Hamilton’s Mercedes-AMG Project One. Announced in 2017 (the peak of his grid dominance) and delivered years later, it is essentially an F1 car for the road – leveraging a detuned version of the 1.6-litre hybrid V6 engine from Mercedes’ championship-winning W07 (“The closest thing to what I do on track that you can drive every day”). Limited to 275 examples, like we said, it feels pretty emblematic of what he achieved with Toto Wolff’s Mercedes dynasty and all the success they enjoyed.
Mercedes-AMG G63 6×6
The six-wheeled G63 6×6 is the kind of automotive bravado that makes civilisation feel politely irrelevant – L44 was photographed with a white example in 2015 and even teased his followers on social media with the caption “So…. Thinking about getting this bad boy.” The 6×6 was never a workaday purchase but a statement piece, all 544 bhp and military-grade presence, and it cropped up in his feed during a period when he was happily adding outrageous Mercedes-branded items to the garage.
Mercedes-AMG SLS AMG Black Series
Lewis Hamilton’s SLS AMG Black Series was the gull-winged, track-bred muscle car that matched his affinity for AMG’s theatre – he publicly celebrated the arrival of an SLS Black on his social channels with the caption, “My new Benz, SLS Blackseries & my old Benz SL Blackseries – a bit of old school with the new.”
Mercedes-AMG GT R
The AMG GT R in Lewis Hamilton’s ownership was a more prosaic entry compared with his hypercars – a thoroughbred, track-focused AMG that was also the official Formula 1 safety car between 2018 and 2020 – but its presence in his garage emphasised the practical, team-aligned side of his collection: reliable, frighteningly quick, and very much at home wearing white bodywork and subtle AMG aggression rather than flamboyant coachbuilt trappings.
Mercedes-Maybach S-Class (S600 / S680 by Virgil Abloh)
Hamilton has long favoured Maybach-level comfort for quieter moments off the grid – he owned a Mercedes-Maybach S600 and later copped an ultra-limited Maybach created in collaboration with the late Virgil Abloh, “My favourite car right now is… I got the Maybach that Virgil [Abloh] did,” was a remark that framed the Maybach as less transport and more cultural artefact. Mercedes’ Project MAYBACH and the limited S680 Virgil Abloh run sit naturally on the intersection of the knighted driver’s interest in fashion, design, and car collecting.
1966 Shelby Cobra 427
Classic Americana previously sat within his garage, too – notably the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427. Originally inspected by Carroll Shelby himself, the car was later tucked away in Hamilton’s collection as something of a museum piece. To preserve its condition, he even bought a second Cobra – a 1967 – to drive more regularly. The 427 remains a car with a mythic reputation, its raw power and light chassis making it one of the most celebrated roadsters of its era.
1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Lewis Hamilton also picked up a 1967 Shelby GT500. However, his relationship with it was less romantic. “Beautiful car, but a heap of junk,” he said of the muscle car. Even so, the GT500 added another thread to the eclectic nature of his garage – a marriage of European hypercars and brash American grunt.
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