Lewis Hamilton Got a Tennis Lesson From Frances Tiafoe

It’s a sunny spring day, and Sir Lewis Hamilton—the Formula 1 GOAT, god-tier watch collector, and former GQ Style Champion—is getting a tennis lesson from Frances Tiafoe. Big Foe, as the latter is nicknamed, is the world's number 12-ranked player and, like Hamilton, a player of color from a working-class background in an elite sport. He instructs Hamilton how to properly swing—upward, brushing the ball—for a topspin forehand. Unsurprisingly, the seven-time Formula 1 champ gets the hang of it quickly, knocking out three in a row. “OK, Lewis Hamilton!” Foe chirps.That whole scene takes place in a mini-doc called Rest Day with Lewis Hamilton, the second in a series produced by Lululemon, the proto-athleisure brand that sponsors both athletes. (The first edition saw Hamilton working on his long game with Min Woo Lee.) In between lessons in the finer points of hitting, the pair discuss a range of topics, from the value of representation to their shared love of European candy.Ahead of this weekend’s US Open start, where Tiafoe is slated to compete in the men’s singles main draw, and following Hamilton’s return to Formula 1 after that sport’s summer break, we caught up with the guys to chat about their shared experiences, ice baths, and Hamilton’s ongoing mission to diversify Formula 1.GQ: From both an athletic and a personal perspective, what do you guys admire most about each other?Lewis Hamilton: I think what’s struck me is how mature Frances is at his age. He started his sport at just three years old. A little earlier than me, since I started at eight. He just seems further ahead in terms of maturity and technicality in his training than I was at that age. We share a lot of similarities, too—we both hate losing.Frances Tiafoe: Lewis has class. He’s a tremendously hard worker, and he understands the moment—breaking the mold, doing well in his sport, it brings a totally different demographic and set of eyeballs to it. He gives back to people, and hopefully that means more people like him are playing the game. I feel like I am in a similar seat, so there are a lot of parallels. And I admire just how humble the man is, given all of the success he’s had.Can you draw any similarities between Formula 1 and tennis?Hamilton: Fast reactions are key for both. Thinking on your toes, hand-eye coordination—very similar. There’s a real similarity in how you take in what you’re seeing, digest it in a split second, and react.Tiafoe: These sports are also expensive to get into. And, obviously, there’s a smaller margin of people of color playing in both. Formula 1 is not the easiest sport to get into for anyone, for any walk of life, because of how few people are in it. But I think that’s especially true for people of color, growing up in certain communities. Everything you do in both sports is a significant expense, compared to, say, football or basketball. In tennis you need rackets, you’ve got to travel, you need coaches. This is a similarity between the two sports, but it’s also a challenge.Courtesy of LululemonLewis, you’ve talked a bit about mindfulness and breathing exercises in moments of anxiety before a race. How do you stay even-keeled when F1 isn’t happening?Hamilton: Originally, I thought I’d only need it on race weekends, but I realized it’s something you have to build into your life every day. I do an ice bath most days and meditate in the mornings. The breathing is what gets you through the ice bath—it never gets easier. I did three and a half minutes today, and the breathing exercise during it changes your whole preparation for the rest of the day. It gives you a moment to steady your mind before everything else gets thrown at you, and it gears you up for whatever you’re going up against. I’ve realized you have to do it consistently. Everything comes down to practice, repetition and consistency.Frances, what does representation in tennis mean to you?Tiafoe: I think there’s a lot of representation in tennis already, but there’s always room for things to improve. I think we continue doing what’s been working. I was a byproduct of NJTL [National Junior Tennis and Learning, a network of nonprofit youth development organizations offering low-cost tennis programs], so staying in that realm and getting more kids from underserved areas coming through. Giving rackets, giving shoes, giving access to courts, providing coaching. There are a bunch of things beyond that, too, but I think we're on the right path. I’ve seen a lot more change from when I started my career to now, and there’s been even more from when the OGs like Serena and Venus were playing, up to now. You see a lot more people of color playing and going to school with tennis, and so on.Courtesy of LululemonLewis, you’ve noted that Formula 1 has around 40,000 jobs, but only about 1% are held by people from Black backgrounds. What do you think needs to happen to move that number, and to broaden representation in F1 and in sports as a whole?Hamilton: It’s a big question. It’s not easy. I started on this journey a while ago, and doing the research was key, because that research didn’t really exist. My dad and I used to think that seeing athletes like Serena and Venus break through would change the mold—and it did, in terms of athletes getting in the door. But changing the environment around it means sitting with stakeholders, applying pressure, creating new job opportunities. Take tennis—there are a lot of opportunities there, but if you go to a match, at least in my experience, the crowd and the people working behind the scenes aren’t as diverse as what you see on the court. That means sitting in a room with stakeholders, having those conversations, building programs.With my foundation, Mission 44, we’re getting into schools, showing kids the sport is open to everyone. We started scholarship programs to help people get through university and straight into roles in Formula 1. It can be painfully slow, and it can feel like a broken record sometimes because you’re constantly having to push it. It can’t just be a moment that trends on social media and then fades—you have to keep showing up, keep bringing it up, keep showing what’s been achieved and what the next step looks like.With the F1 movie, in our very first meeting, I was the only person of color in the room, and I made clear that diversity had to be central—the film needed to reflect what the sport should look like. And then you start getting letters from young people of all different backgrounds who didn’t realize they could be an engineer, or a mechanic.Frances, at this point in your career, what does being a role model mean to you? How do you view that term?Tiafoe: At this stage in my career, I do view myself as a role model, but I view myself as just me first. Authenticity is huge. I try to be myself, and I think that might give other people a chance to open up and be themselves while they're out there playing. I think showing your personality in the game matters. A lot of people in tennis feel like they have to be a certain way. I'm just going to be me, trying to be at the highest level, and have fun while doing it. I love the game I play, I love what I do, and I love showing a ton of passion while I'm out there doing it.Courtesy of LululemonFrances, we know you’ve been competing all summer. Lewis, how was your summer break?Hamilton: It was amazing, and honestly pretty different from any other summer I’ve had. Normally I'm traveling a lot, but this time I moved around much less, and I really wanted to get away from Europe, which is hectic in the summer. I went to Hawaii. I love it there, and I love to surf. In past summers, I’d try to balance some training with an actual holiday. This time my mindset was different. I knew the other drivers would be training to some degree, but I also knew a lot of them would be partying, because I’ve done that before too. I decided this was my moment to re-up. So I trained for the past three weeks: a week in Los Angeles with one trainer, then Hawaii, where my trainer flew out, and we trained almost every day—physio, stretching, meditation, a real program. I honestly feel the fittest I've ever been. I'm geared up for the second half of the season.