Lewis Hamilton won his maiden drivers’ championship title in 20o8 in Brazil. To this day he absolutely reveres Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna and rates him one of the greatest. This all shows how close Brazil is to his heart and the honorary citizenship granted by the government is well deserved. The 7-time world champion revealed how his mother reacted to him being honored.

Hamilton may have received honorary Brazilian citizenship, but the relationship with the country did not begin that well. The crowd initially greeted Lewis with jeers after he beat Felipe Massa to the 2008 championship on his home turf. However, with his impressive performances at Interlagos and him following Brazilian hero Ayrton Senna, the Briton has won hearts in the South American country.

Lewis Hamilton getting honored in Brazil got his mother emotional

The news of Lewis Hamilton being granted honorary citizenship from the Brazilian government came in earlier this year. He formally received the honor in a ceremony at the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia earlier last week. Lewis dedicated the honor to his idol, Ayrton Senna, and his family and friends.

Recently in an interview ahead of the Sao Paulo GP, Lewis revealed his mother’s reaction to the honoring. He revealed, “My mum was in tears earlier in the week when we were facetiming. She was like she can’t believe her son is receiving so much love in another country that’s so far away from where she is, so she wanted me to say thank you to everybody.”

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Following the ceremony, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff congratulated Lewis on behalf of the team. He also talked about how proud he was of Lewis for the achievement.

Toto Wolff congratulates Lewis Hamilton on receiving the honor

Lewis Hamilton getting honorary citizenship in a grand ceremony wasn’t just a proud moment for him and his family. Team boss Toto Wolff too was proud of his Mercedes man.

Toto said, “To be recognized and celebrated by a country that calls Ayrton Senna one of their own is a true measure of Lewis’s incredible achievements, both on the asphalt of Interlagos and as an advocate for diversity in our sport.”

Forwarding the greetings from the entire team, he continued, “From each member of the team, Lewis, we are incredibly proud of you. ‘Obrigado’ for what we have achieved together so far – and we are excited by what is still to come!”

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Hamilton finished P3 in the sprint qualifying on Saturday but will start P2 owing to the 5-place grid penalty that Carlos Sainz is carrying for an engine change. His teammate George Russell showed some blistering pace and audacious lunges to take home victory. This is the first time in the season that Mercedes will lock up the front row of the grid.

Brazil could finally deliver the Silver Arrows their first victory of the season. And if it is Hamilton who will take the chequered flag first, the crowd will surely go ballistic. Who do you think will win this weekend?