Politics
Lewis Hamilton finally bags a victory as F1 star wins council battle to chop down tree at £18million London mansion
SIR LEWIS HAMILTON has bagged his first victory of the new Formula One season – but it’s come off the race track.
The Stevenage speedster has won his long-running battle with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council to chop down a sugarplum tree on the grounds of his £18million mansion.
GETTYSir Lewis Hamilton has been granted permission to chop down a tree at his plush Kensington home[/caption]
Hamilton bought his £14million mansion in December 2018
Burberry chief designer Christopher Bailey and financier Ben Goldsmith were former owners of the house
Residents kicked up a fuss over Hamilton’s plans to cut down the picturesque tree, insisting it would be “destroying nature”.
But the RBKC have ultimately ruled in favour of the seven-time world champion, who is now free to bring down the mammoth tree whenever he pleases.
Hamilton, 37, had previously been granted permission to trim a horse chestnut tree – which attracted poo-dropping pigeons.
The 2022 F1 season has so far not gone to plan for Sir Lewis, who is currently languishing in seventh place after the first four races.
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After finishing third in the season opener in Bahrain, Hamilton has turned in tenth, fourth and 13th place finishes in the Saudi, Australian and Emilia Romagna Grand Prixs.
And the Brit believes a record-breaking eighth Driver’s Championship is beyond him this season.
He told Sky Sports: “A weekend to forget, that’s for sure.
“I’m out of the championship, for sure. There’s no question about that.
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“But I’ll still keep working as hard as I can and try to pull it back together somehow.”
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said of Hamilton’s last drive: “Really bad, he got squeezed by the Alpine, the other two cars undercut and then there is just no overtaking when you are in a DRS [drag reduction system] train.
“We saw with George where the car can drive if you’re in free air but we are not good enough for a world champion, not worthy for a world champion and we just need to fix the car.
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“We’re going to look at things for Miami, I think we can make a step in the understanding of the car and it’s another day.
“We just need to really understand, creep up, bring development onto the car which will fix the bouncing.”
