Lewis Hamilton on Being F1’s Flyest Driver, His Cowboy Era _ Ferrari x Puma Collab _ Complex News.

I know you're humble, but would you agree that you are the drippiest F1 driver in history? What's up, everybody? I am Jillian, superstar with Complex News, and today I am joined by a living legend, the first and only black driver in F1 history, seven-time world champion, and overall global icon, Lewis Hamilton. How are you doing today? I'm good. How are you? Good, good. I'm telling you, I'm feeling a lot better after I saw your fly-ass fit, the custom Tommy Hilfiger sequin situation you had going on. I think you are one of, if not the flyest F1 driver that we've ever had, ever seen. I appreciate it. I know you're humble, but would you agree that you are the drippiest F1 driver in history? Oh, for sure. It's not like it's even close, that one. So it's not, you know, because no one else ever, none of them even tried in the past. So, you know, so it's a little bit of a home run in that sense. But the drivers are now starting to... Step their game up? Try and step their game up, yeah. Who would you say is like next, like right under you, who's like maybe coming for your title of the flyest F1 driver? I mean, I don't pay a huge amount of attention. I would say Yuki does a good job, I would say. And there's one more, Zao, Joe. Joe, he's very, he's quite stylish as well. Speaking of fly pieces, with the Puma and Ferrari capsule, what would you say is your favorite piece that you're most excited to get a fit off in? It's going slow. I think it's this jacket. I really like this jacket. I just saw it in a hallway actually. Do you feel like F1 style and attire and like streetwear are finally merging? I definitely think fashion and Formula 1 are starting to merge heavily, you know. You're now seeing one of the biggest houses in the world that's now like sponsoring the sport as where fashion would not really ever touch it now. So I think there's a lot more fashionable brands starting to get in. And I think that's pushing the sportswear brands to have to elevate and do more. So I think that's why you're starting to see better designs coming through. And there's not only are we competing on track, but we're also competing in all the collections that you bring out. So it's an interesting space to see how it's evolving. There's still a long way to go. Not all the stuff is still great. There's still a lot of... We need to continue to increase diversity within our sport, but also through design and continue to bring young talent through and make the stuff... And we need people to also make it look fly. With Puma and Ferrari having a 20-year partnership, to your point of just things needing to evolve, what do you hope to see with the future of that collaboration? Honestly, I think this is my first year with Ferrari. So every country I go, you then get to see the people that follow Ferrari and support Ferrari. It's pretty intense and it's amazing to see. And then, obviously, people have got collections from way back. It's been interesting just to see how different people wear, different looks, different pieces. But I would definitely say I want us to continue to evolve, continue to try and make it cooler. Obviously, it's always red. We did do a blue collection for Monza this year in Italy. But definitely want to see more younger people wearing it. Mostly, it's people in their 20s and 30s. I'm noticing wearing the stuff a lot. And so we need to be catching the youngsters. And you also have your own collection, Plus 44, which you recently dropped a Western capsule, which I absolutely love because I am an equestrian myself. So I love seeing you in this space. Oh, I love that. And just a person of color in this space. I'm curious what made you want to do a Western collection, especially knowing that you are allergic to horses. And hadn't ridden one before. So how did that come about? That's a good question. So look, I'm a massive animal lover. I always have been. And there used to be this horse that was in the field on its own, a Shire horse when I was younger. And I used to be on my run. I get back from my run and I would always stop and have the horse would come over and we were bonding. And I would walk away and I start sniffing and then my throat would start closing up. And I didn't know that I had asthma. And then I realized I was allergic to, really, really badly allergic to horses. So I ultimately had to stay away from horses after that. But I've been watching, I was watching Yellowstone. I love Yellowstone. And at that type of lifestyle, like that's my dream lifestyle. My dream is to have a ranch, lots of animals, like a farm, lots of animals. And yeah, absolutely. I love being in the mountains. I spend my winters in the mountains in Colorado. So that's always been what I've been working towards. And then early on the beginning of this year, I was like, right, I would need to do a photo shoot with a horse. And I'm like, the only thing is I'm allergic to them and I don't know how it's going to go. And luckily, I've been working on getting desensitized to this allergy. But I had put it to the test. And I took this antihistamine, which was the best one I've found. And I did this shoot with this horse for Time 100 Magazine. I was fine to be around this horse. And it was really emotional for me because I was like, oh my God, I was around the horse for a good couple of hours. And I was like, OK, I'm going to get a horse now. After, when I left, I was like, I just, I was so moved by just how strong this huge animal is. And I love looking in its eyes and seeing how there's so much compassion and depth within the horse's eyes. With this collection, with Plus 44, I was like, firstly, we're going to Texas. We've got to break out that cowboy vibe. And it also ends up being fun for me because then I get to get involved in the horsey doing the shoot. And then I had the chance. I was like, we've got to have a horse again. And I was like, can I get on the horse? You know, that's the first time I've gotten, I've ridden pretty much every other thing with an engine, for example. This is the first time I've ridden an animal, you know. And I felt really, really comfortable. I felt at home. Then it started to run and I was like, oh shoot, I don't know what to do. Next year, I'm going to get a horse. That's my, that's on my bucket list for 2026. And then get horse riding lessons. Amazing. Well, we're with you till the wheels fall off. Thank you for everything that you do and everything that you stand for. Again, we'll be on the lookout for your horse journey as well as your F1 journey. And thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Appreciate it. Take care. Of course, you too. You got such great, great energy. Thank you.