Lewis Hamilton has revealed he is continuing to write and record new music in his downtime away from the Formula 1 circus, but the Mercedes star doesn’t want his work to be released into the public realm again.

As one of F1’s greatest drivers of all time, Hamilton’s fame has come from his exploits on the track – with his 104 race wins the most of any driver and a haul of seven titles only equalled by Michael Schumacher.

Despite his status in motorsport, Hamilton insists that F1 plays a secondary role to the most important aspect of his everyday life: music. When the Briton isn’t in the cockpit of the W15, he is creating new music to help keep him inspired.

Lewis Hamilton is still creating and recording new music in his downtime (Image: YouTube/ClassicFM/Getty)

F1 star Lewis Hamilton claims music is the most important thing in his life (Image: Getty)

“Music is the biggest part of my life, it’s the most important thing that keeps me sane,” Hamilton told Rolling Stone magazine.

“In a sport where you don’t feel like you could fit in, where you know you’re different, but you can’t really talk too much and there’s no way to express yourself other than in a car… to then have music and be able to put my feelings out into something [is important].”

With a congested 24-race calendar in 2024 and tens of thousands of miles spent travelling around the world to get the events, the 39-year-old doesn’t have much time to spend at home recording new beats in his studio.

But on the rare occasion when he does – such as the three-week summer break – Hamilton says he often struggles to find the motivation to record new music and indicated that his inspiration arrives in phases.

“I go through these phases where I’m doing a lot, I’m writing a lot, and I’m recording a lot, and really feeling inspired,” Hamilton said. “And then I go through these periods where I just stop doing it; I do it less and less and less, and then I stop setting my mic up.”

Hamilton added he has “no plans on ever giving [the songs] to anybody”, adding he didn’t get into the industry “to put the music up.”

Lewis Hamilton with US rapper A$AP Ferg and UK artist Skepta (Image: Getty)

Instead, he often posts short video clips of himself playing his acoustic guitar on Instagram and Hamilton’s talents have been recognised by several globally-renowned artists such as Major Lazer.

He also made his first foray into the music world on Christina Aguilera’s 2018 track ‘Pipe’, using the pseudonym XNDA to disguise his identity. However, internet sleuths soon realised it was Hamilton’s voice behind the microphone.

“The goal was to have the music come out under a different name so that you could hear the music first and later know it was me but it didn’t work out the way I’d planned,” he explained in 2020.

“I shied away from acknowledging it was me, I don’t know why, maybe Insecurities, fear, overthinking, something I think many people can relate to.”