AceShowbiz - Sir Lewis Hamilton described school as the most "traumatising and difficult" time of his life. The 38-year-old sports star - who was born and educated in Stevenage, South-East England - has remembered having bananas thrown at him by other students during his school years.

"For me, school was the most traumatising and most difficult part of my life. I was already being bullied at the age of six. At that particular school I was one of three kids of colour and just bigger, stronger, bullying kids were throwing me around a lot of the time," he shared.

"The constant jabs, the things that are either thrown at you, like bananas, or people that would use the N-word just so relaxed. People calling you half-caste and not knowing where you fit in. That for me was difficult."

Lewis - who was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours - also felt that his headmaster "had it out" for him. The seven-time Formula One champion told the "On Purpose" podcast, "In my [high] school, there were six or seven black kids out of 1,200 kids and three of us were put outside the headmaster's office all the time. The headmaster just had it out for us - and particularly me."

Lewis - who is one of the world's best-paid sports stars - also felt that he couldn't discuss his troubles with his parents. He explained, "I felt the system was up against me and I was swimming against the tide."

"There were a lot of things I suppressed. I didn't feel I could go home and tell my parents that these kids kept calling me the N-word, or I got bullied or beaten up at school today, I didn't want my dad to think I was not strong."