Hamilton: Even my Dad told me to stay put at McLaren

Legend has it that after that, Lewis agreed to put pen to paper and seal a deal that shocked the F1 world at the time. English media were up in arms, questioning the driver's career choice, predicting doom and gloom.

During an interview with Ziggo Sport, Lewis even admitted that his father Anthony was against the move. But now nearly a decade later, he is on the verge of claiming his seventh F1 world title, his sixth as a Mercedes driver.

He also happens to be the driver with most wins in the sport's history thanks to Merc, and of course the richest F1 driver of this generation.

However, Sir Jackie Stewart said at the time, "I personally would have stayed with McLaren, they have the resources and the money. So, if I was thinking long term, then I would be looking to stay there.”

Jenson Button sang the same song, "Lewis has chosen to go his own way at the end of the year. It is his decision, although I personally don't think it is the right decision."

They were not alone on the Island thinking the same way, some far less polite.

Reflecting on the choice he made that upset many, Lewis said, “Naturally, I'm very proud of the decision I made. The important lessons to take from it is: In life, we often need to seek approval from other people, sometimes we don’t know what the answers are so we try and get it from people around us.

"But those people often only have an opinion and don’t actually know the answers are. I was told by everyone around me to stay put at McLaren, even my Dad said I should stay," added Lewis with reference to his father Anthony Hamilton who looked after his son's affairs until 2010.

The World Champion continued, “What I did at the time was listen, really dig deep and figure it out for myself, what really I wanted to do. Whatever decisions I take, I will deal with the consequences but that’s my choice. It's really important for people to be themselves and do what suits you [personally].

“Be and do what you want to do, not what people expect you to be and do. That was a really great step for me. I did that and said you know what? I’m going to try and take everything I have learnt from all these years and try and apply it to this team.

Notably, Mercedes backed Lewis throughout his junior career and he has indeed only raced with Mercedes powered cars in F1.

He said of his early days with the team he now all but owns, “I arrived at the factory and changed a ton of things on the car. There was a great amount of respect between us, I guess because of the career that I already had. The guys were just so excited and we worked and bonded and made massive strides already at the beginning.

“We won our World Championship early in the second year but we continued to face every single year the same as the first year since I joined in 2013.

“We don’t slack. It’s not like we are just going to chill and arrive and be at the front. We have the same difficult conversations and we push and elevate each other. It’s been a dream. It really has been a dream," added Lewis.