Being the brother of Lewis Hamilton has never been easy. But now, Nicolas Hamilton – a racer and successful public speaker – is paving his own path, and he tells Kieran Jackson why he’s hungry for more.

“I was 16 in my wheelchair and went to a check-in desk at an airport to go and watch Lewis at an F1 race.” Nicolas – half-brother to seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis – takes a deep breath as he reflects on the turning point in his life.

After a childhood impacted by cerebral palsy, that was the moment he stood up – and never sat back down.

“This lady did not ask me any questions,” he recalls. “She just asked my mum whether I needed assistance or help. I had all the hormones of a teenager wanting to be a man. I was growing a beard. I wanted to talk to girls and go to the pub.

“But I’d become lazy and I was in a wheelchair because it was easier for me. It was hard work to walk around. Able-bodied people weren’t looking at me in the way I wanted to be perceived. That was when I got out of my wheelchair. And I haven’t been back in for 15 years.”

We speak on World Cerebral Palsy Day. Just 24 hours earlier, the 31-year-old had given a motivational talk at Microsoft – a full circle moment in a year of growing success. In April, Lewis watched on incognito as Nicolas – or Nic – scored his best-ever BTCC finish, coming sixth at Donington Park.

His debut in 2015, using a specially adapted car with custom pedals and a hand clutch, made him the first disabled driver to compete in Britain’s premier touring car series. Yet despite public assumptions, family support didn’t mean financial backing.

“Lewis has never put a penny into my motorsport,” Nic tells The Independent. He says it three times. “There’s people who still don’t believe me when I say that, but that is literally the situation.

“I’ve had a lot of online trolling and bullying where everyone says I’m only in BTCC because of Lewis. A lot of the criticism is unjust – I don’t deserve it. But to finally shut the critics up on 23 April was the best thing I could ever wish for. It was a load of relief and a lot of weight off my shoulders.”

Through the 40-minute conversation, what stands out isn’t bitterness, but quiet determination. Just months after that breakthrough finish, Hamilton decided to leave Team HARD after the summer break. He admits he “wasn’t being valued to the level I’d have liked,” but he’s already looking ahead. No grudges – just the next challenge.