Currently reading: Lewis Hamilton to get his own street
Stevenage decides to name a road in honour of its Formula One hero

The home town of Formula One sensation Lewis Hamilton is to name a street in his honour, but that won't be enough to keep the British breakthrough F1 talent there.Stevenage Borough Council in Hertfordshire yesterday said that it will honour the racing driver by naming a street in a new town centre development after him; however, in an interview with the BBC given today (29 October), Hamilton revealed that we will be quitting Stevenage, and the UK, for a new life in Switzerland.

Lewis' own town centre terrace

Councillor Sharon Taylor, leader of Stevenage Borough Council, said, "Everyone in the town is enormously proud of the fact that Lewis comes from Stevenage… [his] success has given everyone in Stevenage a real boost. In particular, our young people see him as a role model and his achievements have definitely raised their aspiration levels."The exact name for the road is yet to be decided upon, but we reckon Lewis Hamilton Drive would be especially appropriate.

Thanks very much, but I'm off

The news that Hamilton will quit the UK came earlier today. In an interview with the BBC, Hamilton said: "I've lost my ability to go places here — you don't understand what that means until you get there and you really struggle to lead a normal life.""When you come home and everybody knows you, it makes it so much harder to do normal things. I can't go to the cinema. I go to the bathroom in a petrol station and people come in there for autographs.""Over there (in Switzerland) people don't come up to you, they leave you alone and give you space. I'm going to a country that I don't know, but it's very exciting."In the same interview Hamilton told the BBC that the move was motivated by the wish to avoid intense press and public scrutiny of his life, and denied that it was to do with income tax. F1 stars Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso also live in Switzerland.

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