There is no doubt that Lewis Hamilton is a charitable man. The outspoken Mercedes man often uses his platform to talk about the lack of diversity in motorsport. Hamilton has invested large sums of money behind the cause as well. Arguably, this is still a recent change in Hamilton’s life.

But even before Hamilton was outraged because of the lack of diversity in the sport, his actions were still contributing to charity. Back in 2010, still in his early racing career, Hamilton was a little more carefree. The Mercedes man was already a world champion and enjoying the luxuries that come with it.

One such luxury was extremely fast and powerful cars. So in his McLaren days, during the Australia GP weekend, Hamilton was having fun with his Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. However, the fun did not last too long as Hamilton was caught doing doughnuts in his Benz in St. Kilda. The police impounded the powerful V8 engine C63 and charged Hamilton with improper use of a vehicle.

The Mercedes-Benz Australia then auctioned the car to one of its dealers. The Mercedes spokesperson David McCarthy later revealed that because of the incident, the used car will be auctioned for more than its retail price. “There has been a lot of interest,” he said. However, they said there will not be any information released about Hamilton’s history with the car.

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Regardless, the word travels fast, and there was a lot of interest in the car with potential buyers lining up to snap up the infamous c63 AMG. Although, thanks to Hamilton’s notoriety, the entire situation turned into benefitting a cause.

The car confiscated from Lewis Hamilton eventually contributed to charity

The spokesperson later revealed the Mercedes car which had 3000 miles on the odometer of which only 60 were of Hamilton, contributed to charity.

The $150,000 car earned $7,000 over its reserve price. The spokesperson revealed the additional money from the action will be donated to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, a charitable foundation that helps to keep children safe from violence. The foundation was the official charity of the 2010 Australian Grand Prix.

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In the end, no one got hurt, and there was a contribution of $7,000 dollars to a charity.