announcer: from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose." charlie:charlie: you are at your best when you are hallenged? what would make a very invigorating and challenging race for you? lewis: the challenging races are generally when we started. we do not have the best equipment. we would start at the back of the grid and in the race, i would pick up people one by one. that is generally how i learned to overtake. it would come from the back every time.

when i got to formula one, i would have races where i would start in the back and come through. i would come through and finish second. those to your the most exciting races because -- those to me are the most exciting races because it is like a chess match each time. one driver is a bit crazy. i'm not than a say who it is that they make their cars as white as the road. they are -- as wide as the oad. knowing which one you are coming up to and going up against. charlie: some argue then -- that there is more technology center has ever been. it takes the scale out of the drivers hands. ewis: most of the comments

that are made, i think people do not have the knowledge of what is going on. it is different. we do have a lot of technology and it but operating that technology is another task in itself. i would not say that it is less talent -- challenging. what you have to learn today with all of the switches and mechanics that we have, it is more challenging. back then it was a little more physical but today it is a lot faster. it balances out. we have a lot more going on and a lot more control. back then they do not have that. we do not have manual gears. i would not say that is the

case, it is more mental today. charlie: but you would prefer -- lewis: i am more old school. i drove that car in 1989. charlie: if you could make this happen and be in a race with him with those cars at that time? lewis: same car. that would've been great. charlie: what would it be? ewis: for me, i can related to -- relate it to watching ichael in those years. i was behind him at one point nd i am driving behind him and

i don't want to think this guy. i'm going to sit back and enjoy t. i would imagine it would be the same. i would be happy to be behind him. charlie: michael one -- won 7. senna is the guy you want to e. lewis: definitely. there have been a few championships but as a kid, senna was the first guy i noticed. he is the one who caught my eye when i was five years old atching the races on the eekends with my dad.

i started to follow him and read books. i watched his videos and like any kid would be a football player or athlete, they are magnetized to one of them. that is how i was with senna. i followed him and loved his cale and aggressive style -- skill and aggressive style. i believed he was right in many ways. it was a cool balance and cool approach. michael won seven championships. it was where ferrari dominated several years in a row. his teammate would give him a win. harlie: they would lay back? lewis: no. he had done a better job that weekend and just before the finish line, he let michael pass. i don't agree with that.

they say we are a team and we are teammates. you have to could championships. you have to work towards helping the team win. michael had the better of him in many scenarios. even if you didn't, the team disadvantaged him. charlie: so me go was in front of you? he would never give it up. lewis: no, i would never want that. i want to own it. if you beat me, i would want to be better and fight another day. for me it would be selfish. to know that i would win by giving it to me. charlie: you believe you are the best driver in formula one and you believe you have the best car. lewis: it is not just because of that it is the work ethic. i don't want to have it easy. i want to be recognized as the

best because the way i overtake, the way i drive the car, the way a do something different than any other driver. charlie: one year after you joined formula one, you became the world champion? lewis: yes. charlie: two years. then you didn't win for a while. lewis: i didn't. most drivers to get to formula one they come to a another team. the pressure that was on us as a family having to perform every single weekend, we had to get those results. all the different strategized moves. the way we came across and presented ourselves and also representing them. we wanted to be a good report to mclaren.

they were good people who worked hard. charlie: the family did? ewis: yes. we really worked on that. i won the championship that first year and a new that -- i knew there was a seat moving. if i win, they won't make me tay a second year. if there is a seat available, i might get it. i won the championship and i knew i had the test coming up. i was studying like crazy and he manual. othing can prepare you for when you sit in the garage and struck you in. you have 20 mechanics around

you -- when you leave it, you are driving a multimillion dollar car. they may not give you another chance. charlie: you mentioned how competitive it was for you. when did you know you weren't like the other kids? as you went from 15th to first and past them all, you didn't have the best car. ewis: i just did it. charlie: did you think you had the best skill then? lewis: no. whenever i'm behind the wheel, that is when i feel i elong. i was never the most confident erson outside the car.

i was not outspoken, i was timid and shy. when i get in the car with my helmet on, it is the one place where a knew my dad was proud of me. i struggled at school. i was missing days of school and i was trying to catch up. i struggled. i struggled so much to catch p. i couldn't keep up with the workload especially when i was missing a thursday and a friday. i missed half the curriculum every year. i knew as long as i performed on the track, i would get good grades and reports whenever i could. charlie: now that you have performed so well in the car, in the cockpit, has a given you confidence in other areas of your life? lewis: i think so. when i got to formula one, i was never prepared for the interviews. they were throwing curve balls that you all the time and i had

no way how to respond. there were definitely a lot of robert holes along the way. it has been a learning process. charlie: isn't it true the first years you were there that you kept placing second or third. finally when you didn't place, you didn't know where to go. lewis: that's not true. i have grown up being further behind and there have been years -- the first year i met mclaren who was the two-time orld champion.

i remember sitting and standing -- studying. i wanted to match the sky. i believed somewhere in may was the speed to catch up with this guy. before the first race in his office, he said don't be surprised if you are happy second behind. you don't know what that did to me inside. it just boiled me inside. not because he was undervaluing me but he was not expecting me to answer to his special new guy. charlie: you said you expect to be beaten? your life is not about expecting to be beaten? lewis: no. he didn't beat me in the first raced but i finished and after that i think they beat him and thenin the third race.

charlie: you won the championship? lewis: i lost it by one. then i had a big disastrous off which lost me 10 points. then my car broke down and lost it by one point. i won in the second year by one point. charlie: that could crush you? lewis: it did, it destroyed e. mentally, that was the biggest not i had ever taken. in one sense you have to remember it is your first year. the pressure i put on myself was the biggest.

i put too much pressure from my dad and for my team and my expectation. i have the world championship, i have not been in this position. it has been my dream since i was a little kid and i fumbled and make mistakes. it slipped through my fingers and i didn't know how to handle it. you get out of the car and i take it so personally. the pain in my heart was unbearable. you get out of the car and you are in front of the cameras. you forget that behind those cameras is a million people watching. at the time, i was not prepared to suck it up. it was very tough and the next year in the last race, i had to finish fifth to win the championship. the guy was right ahead of me. there was nothing i could do to get close to him.

there was four or three laps left and i couldn't do anything for the life of me. it had been raining. i took him at the last corner and i came across a line thinking that i had lost. my heart was the same. it came on the radio saying i was the world champion. then i burst into tears. charlie: that was what you have been dreaming since you were five years old. ewis: yes. that was in brazil. i have the biggest climax eally. ♪

charlie: you know why you have this dream other than the fact that in the go kart you were ood? you and your family had put it together to sacrifice for you to be there. you sacrificed most of all. you had the dream. your dream is being number one, being the world formula one hampion.

lewis: everyone has dreams. charlie: but you pursue this? lewis: i have my family. all these friends i grew up with. their dads left and started new families. y dad's -- dad stuck around. charlie: he gave you everything e could possibly give you? lewis: absolutely. some fathers do that but what my father did, i could never pay him back. every time i'm in the car today with the opportunity he has created, i'm going to grab it with my hands and ever taken for granted. charlie: was it your family that gave you the persistence you had? lewis: my dad was persistent that i be catholic and go to hurch.

other than that, my dad did not really push it on us. after that, i found it yself. it became my compass and guiding tool and to help me be and do what i am today. charlie: you are a very candid and honest guy who understands himself. there came a point where you had to make a break from your father. lewis: yes, that was one of the hardest moments ever. my father had been managing me hroughout my whole life. i could never have a better manager than my dad. the reason being is he knows what i have been through and my values. values mean more to me than anything else. when it comes to presenting your client, it is always

heart. there is an incentive to make money but this was all about powertrain and what we have een working for. there was a point,, i was 23 years old and had moved to a country. was living in switzerland which my dad had advised me to do. i was lonely and in a period of time when i wanted to make my own money and my own mistakes. f my dad would continue to mentor me today, i would not be able to do that growing. i really had to do it.

it started getting difficult because it went from a father-son relationship to a different relationship. there is no hugging. there is no let's chill and watch tv. it was just work. i missed that and i told him i just wanted him to be my dad. just come to the races and i will make you proud. that was incredibly hard for him to take and to break away. it had to be a heartbreak and it took years for us to recover. the following years were just difficult as a family and a kind of destroyed the family a little bit. that is all my dad lived and

breathed. it was like, what do i do now? it is not that i don't need you. charlie: you wanted some sense of being in your own life? lewis: i know what it's like, i've been there. i would say that to my cousins. trust me, i've done it. in some ways it is good to make the decisions and learn yourself. charlie: how hard was it for him to take it? lewis: i cannot put into words how difficult it was for him or must have been for him. he did not take it well and he did not know how to take it. that bridged the gap between us like the grand canyon. charlie: this was his dream? lewis: he was very stubborn. i'm not going to come to you and i'm not going to come for e. i am very much more a giving

person so i didn't spend the next year trying to spend a lot f time together. it was like when building a house. charlie: we build a relationship? lewis: yes. charlie: did it affect your racing? lewis: yes, the worst year was 2011. i lost a lot of weight to stress. in this sport, you have to have level head and have to be focused at all times. from february to november. staying on point the whole way without losing focus, i lost my way big time. charlie: he must've looked at this and said, i'm not

there. lewis: absolutely. charlie: he would say let me help and i would say no. as difficult as it is, i have to go through this. if i don't find my way, i have got to go through this as horrible as it is. and i did. i finally got my head here. and had my championship. and in 2013, i moved. harlie: where is it today? it is always lingering around s. lewis: he still wants to anage. last year he came to six

races. he was incredibly supportive. he qualified and made a mistake. he came and gave me advice and then he came to a few races after that. we have been spending christmas together. charlie: he said to me that it was so painful you telling him not to come to the race. you really needed to be your own man. you had to live the life that you wanted to leave. he was playing this dual ole.

he was living his dream. i can't imagine. lewis: i won't know what that feels like until i have kids but it was hard to tell him that. whether it is right or wrong, i id it and the whole point of standing on your own two feet. e were a solid unit. no one could break us. we were good, a big strong family. obviously, my stepmom is white. e are in the family.

my dad is the darkest in the amily. have you seen cool runnings? charlie: yes. lewis: cool runnings is my favorite movie. when they arrive on the scene o do the practice, everyone is like what are these people oing here? we arise and we didn't have a trailer. we just have this bent car in he back of the boot. people would turn up and just like in the movie things were rusty. that's how it was for us. it was funny. people do not want us there at

the beginning. your dad told me stories in go karts saying you're not supposed to win. lewis: i had parents come to me. they would say, you just don't have it. and they're kid sucked so much. as a kid, i was eight years old. charlie:what would you say to all that? what does it say to you that you survived all that and became the world champion? lewis: as human beings, we arness energy.

i harness all those experiences. the teachers were negative. i just kept it bottled nside. my dad would always say this. i would have aggression and want to go and push that guy over, or flick him in the air, or kick him or something. and he would say, do it on the track. do your talking on the track. that applied to everything. do your talking on the track. i would get on the track and drive the wheels off a car. he said i could drive a four poster bed. the first go kart was like that. just terrible. however, he went to a diy store and repainted the whole thing, made it look brand-new. he put so much effort into it,

as he did with everything. with remote control cars, he would sit there after work. he would take such pride in his work. putting my go kart together. he would spend hours in the shed. i don't know what came across him. or came over him, but he enjoyed it. he would spend the whole night. charlie: you needed him to be there at that time? if he had not been, it would have been even a rougher road for you. lewis: i needed him in the beginning when i got to formula one. because i fell hard. particularly after the championship i lost in 2007, i fell hard. and my family was there and even still today, they are still there. but it is different now. charlie: you're more of your own you have the kind of life you missed.

being independent. lewis: every weekend i was racing. other kids were bowling or whatever it may be. i didn't do that. i was around grown-ups the whole time. and you did not have relationships until later in your life. lewis: i didn't have my first girlfriend until i was 18 and then i went into a long relationship. charlie: how would you describe it? you went right into a long relationship. having not had a relationship at all. lewis: i was in that one for four years and then fell head over heels for another girl. relationship had ended, i mean. and then i was in that one for nearly every eight years. charlie: you saw the movie rush. lewis: yes. charlie: you know nikki well. lewis: he has been one of my bosses.

charlie: he knows what it is like. he knows the pressure. he knows the distractions. he knows everything there is to know. he is a world champion. but at the same time, he is very wary of distraction. as you know. he wants lewis to be only thinking about the race. he said that to me. i worry about him distracted. you heard that? lewis: yes, definitely. you have to imagine, for nikki, it is a strange relationship we we had notecause really met other than shaking each other's hand in 2010. and i was driving for another team. and he didn't have a great opinion of me. he didn't know me. he didn't really understand me. he didn't believe what i was doing was right. charlie: this was it during those years you weren't at your best? lewis: absolutely.

the up-and-down years. charlie: so he had reason to you hade doubt because won the world championship, but then you had a fallow period. : he came to me in 2012. he said we need you. --rlie: sadie's need you mercedes needs you. lewis: yes. turley: -- charlie: you were at mclaren and mercedes. some say mclaren was going down and mercedes was coming up. lewis: we were doing well. 2012 was our best year. we had just got back. and then you switched to mercedes. lewis: yes. this is with nikki. charlie: so he was responsible for you coming to mercedes, in part. lewis: partly. a lot of commenters say he is

the reason i came to them. it's not entirely true. he was the first conversation that i had, but russ, it was his baby at the time. when he came and met me at my worldhouse, russ had won championships with michael. he had helped him achieve five world championships. he came and sat in the kitchen and had a cup of tea. he showed me a proposal of where the team is and where they are going, and the steps they are going to take to get there. so i could've stayed at mclaren making good money, good environment, my family, been there for years. there was no where else i really wanted to go. but if i really want to test myself as a driver, first, i have to try a different car. mclaren has had world champion top drivers for years. also, i am not just another driver. i want to go somewhere else to prove myself.

so, i could stay for the short-term and maybe win a championship in 2013, which i thought would happen, or i could go somewhere else and be part of that. michael was at a ferrari. he went through bad time with them and helped them be successful. i wanted to have that. i wanted to get that experience so i went to mercedes. and every single person said that was the worst thing you can do. mclaren went down, we went up. charlie: then all those people said i told you so. lewis: exactly. [laughter] i knew, dude, i knew it was a good decision. charlie: can you imagine -- when i say the word ferrari,what does that mean to you?

lewis: very elegant, isn't it? the red, the team. such an iconic brand. i had toy cars that were ferrari. emotion forit of anyone with ferrari. but i would definitely same or sadie's is running through my veins. it's my dna because i have been with them. is running in my veins. it is in my dna because i am with them. charlie: is there anything that is part of you that says, in some part of my life i would like to be racing the red? lewis: i was just looking. we will see if there's anything we can learn from it. i look at the on board lapse. there's any other car where i wonder how that feels, it is the ferrari.

how does it feel to have that red carpet around you? the controls. i think of how different it felt and there is a huge difference in the way you have to drive the car. the rules are the same. but it has a different characteristic. understanding that end -- and being able to harness that and to extract its potential, that is one of the most challenging things. so i wonder how much different -- at the moment, i am assuming it is worse, because nothing is as good as i have now. charlie: but you wonder. lewis: if i were to finish my career, would i feel that i missed something? i don't think i would. i wanted to win championships. charlie: you had the thought? lewis: i haven't, really. i thought about what it would feel it to drive the car. the team they have, the passion for ferrari worldwide, the fans.

it is a beautiful team. but i feel it have that with mercedes. charlie: every car has a personality. has a personality. mercedes has a personality. mclaren has a personality. how would you define the difference? lewis: that is a really hard question. charlie: but they are different, and you can feel it. it is said that you are at one with the car. lewis: well, you are strapped in, so it's like being strapped to a rocket. it's like, how do you control this rocket? it is like a raging role. -- goal. -- raging bull. it is wild and sexy and fast. it's dynamic. it is so many things in one, and it is exhilarating. you cannot believe, when they

are strapping you in, you go , these seatbelts are getting tighter and tighter. the speed you do is amazing. from car to car, it is different. you create a bond with the card -- car because you have to trust it. you have to go around the corner at 108 miles per hour. you have to trust that the tires and not going to blow up or the car is not going to spit you out, which is painful. there is a bond that you create with the car. it's indescribable. i would imagine it is a bit like the horse whisperer. you see those movies where they whisper to the horse. you don't know what they are saying to the horses but i speak to my car. charlie: come on baby, come on baby. [laughter] lewis: like i trust you and i respect you. if you give it back to me, we

will do just fine. charlie: i will be good for you. you be good for me. lewis: exactly. charlie: what is it like to hit the wall? lewis: the journey towards it is kind of exciting. charlie: really? what makes it exciting? lewis: you lose control. charlie: you know it's going to happen. lewis: yeah, but it is like a roller coaster ride. you don't have control on a roller coaster ride. it's exhilarating for a split second. i've had big crashes. atave hit to the wall it -- 170 miles per hour. fromsplit second, you go 170-0. charlie: do you have time to think, it's going to happen, so you tighten up? lewis: sometimes you do,

sometimes you don't. usually, when you don't, you pass out. there have been races where i lost it. the geforce pull is crazy. there has been once or twice or where i am going towards it and i think, this is going to hurt. and yes, it hurt. you ever think, this may be it for me, lights out? lewis: no. i don't let that into my head. charlie: you don't let it in your head? fear: i don't have that factor. charlie: that's what they say. lewis: i don't know what it is. charlie: they tell me you were the kid who had no fear?

you would take any chance. lewis: and still today i do that. charlie: you are the most fearless driver on the track. lewis: i think so. charlie: every race you go into, you think i want the poll, i want to lead every lap, i would have the fastest lap. it doesn't happen often, but that is what you are thinking. stay backsometimes i and say i want to crush everyone. i want to outsmart everyone. charlie: this could get too easy for you and there would be no challenge. you want to show them who is the boss. lewis: we talk about the confidence being the best. you want them to know. every driver feels they are the best. every driver, even nascar drivers, they all believe they are the best race car driver in

the world. same with tennis players, football players. individually, they have to believe -- i am sure it is the same with you. you know you are the best. that is what powers you through. charlie: and they think they are the best, so you want them to know. their in the back of minds, maybe he is a little bit better. ♪

charlie: why do you think you are as good as you are? why do you think you are the best? lewis: i think it was a gift. i think it was a gift from a higher power. it is not just a gift. and we have just been given it, for sure. it was a gifting opportunity hard enough to build, there was no limit to how high we could build that structure. my dad pushed and pushed. as a kid, and still today, i push and push. it does not matter if it is driving or whatever it is i'm focused on, i have this focus, and i don't know where it comes from.

i the thing with lewis is think he appreciates everyone and everything that has helped him get where he is. quite an emotional thing when you have won a race, your first or your last, and not comes out in every race lewis wins. ultimately, he has such a great heart, lewis. he likes to say, it is not just about me. it is about my dad and my family. charlie: what did the dad do? >> at the time, i thought it was a normal parent, but i wasn't that normal, because i was as driven as lewis. of changed our lives when that person stood up and said -- when mclaren stood up and said i think your son has got something special. charlie: but you had seen that a

long time ago, that he had something special. >> i did. i thought it when he was five years of age. charlie: what did you see? determinationely in his eyes. we bought a remote control car. he was forever wanting to do different things. i thought, here is a remote control car. it turned out, he was extremely good at driving this little car up and down the driveway. i thought the next best thing to keep him busy would be to take him to a remote control car club. that happened every weekend. i -- and he and i would prepare every weekend to go remote control car racing. can you believe it? back then, it didn't seem like much. charlie: is there something you can point to when he operated

that remote? in terms of instinct and hand eye coordination? >> absolutely. in this club, there were about 50 people. and most of them were 50. there were only two kids. lewis was the youngest. the next oldest was a teenager. used to stand up on the tree like everyone else. and he was able to drive his car backward, forward, tight turns, whatever. kid hasought this something special. charlie: did he have the competitive instinct? he is the sort of guy who will try everything once, but he is normally good at everything he tries. charlie: how much is that? this idea of having the coordination and ability, and

how much is the x factor? the competitive desire to win it all? >> i wouldn't say he has great natural talent. i think everybody has natural talent. i think it depends how you develop that talent. i use the analogy that we could all be brain surgeons, it is all how badly you want to be a brain surgeon. we all have talent. it's about how much you want to be the best. from the time he said he wanted to be a formula one racing driver, and he was six or seven at the time -- charlie: six years old and he said i wanted to be a formula one racer. >> that is all he ever said until he got there. some kids they want to be a doctor or a policeman. all he ever said was i want to be a formula one racer. so when we got the opportunity,

but the go kart racing, i said i everything in my power to make sure you have this chance to race to the best of your abilities. i said i will work several jobs. you do well in school. that's the trade-off. he accept the trade-off? >> he did. he was never going to be a brain surgeon. his skills were more mechanical. he went to school, worked hard. he did so much in that you would make some critical. the whole thing changed when you have someone as precocious as lewis, you have to look after that one individual. make sure they maximize their opportunities. it was clear that he had something special and i used to work on british rail. it was a fairly big rail company. i started off at the bottom.

to become aup manager. at that time, for me, for where we came from, it's almost like coming from the bronx, if you want, and working your way up. at that time, i was in this really good job, but it wasn't good enough, because racing is extremely expensive, it still is, and we couldn't afford it at that time. so to supplement, i did various jobs. charlie: what did it cost for him to race? you have to buy the go kart. critics it is not so much the initial outlay. buying the equipment. it's all the traveling and incidental costs. usedld have to say that i a urn, if i remember rightly,

income, but tof afford go karts, it was probably $60,000. i had to work extra jobs. three or four extra jobs. lookay the mortgage, and wor after the wife, and my other son. most people have an average income. -- annual income. and you know what your disposable income is, how much you have, that sort of thing. but with go karts, it something different. charlie: take me to the go cart track. was he different from any other kid in a go kart? was he better? faster? quicker? >> it was he and wii. lewis, myself, my wife, my family.

for sure, he showed a huge amount of natural ability, but i think that was all based around his sheer excitement and determination. hand to.ver he put his with a remote control car, he didn't want to come last. he always wanted to win. i think there is a way to manage young talent like that. charlie: that is why he was different, he had both the talent and will to win. >> absolutely. and that was quite interesting. analogy where i said to lewis, look, as parents, we want to be as best educated as we possibly can. i am going to hold you to good qualifications and i will do what it takes for your racing. and i did. i got whatever jobs i needed to

make sure he had similar if not the same equipment as others. charlie: he would not be where he is without you making that sacrifice or your family making that sacrifice. >> absolutely not, and i would not you where i am without his ability. byrlie: what do you mean that? >> it has not just been a success for lewis. it has been a success for the family. take on theen you responsibility of looking after somebody like lewis, your life has to change. it's a bit like a man who has , you havettery saying the golden ticket, but you cannot use it for 10 years. what do you do for 10 years? we did not want to blow his opportunity. saw him when he was 13.

the opportunity fortunately came. but you have to try to manage the process to make sure it's not just a talented individual like lewis who achieves the objectives, but the whole family.

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