30th January 2023

Arthur asked one of his lecturers if he could have a go on the F1 simulator in the Hi Tech and Digital Centre

A big F1 fan, Arthur had spotted a post online from Mercedes showing Lewis Hamilton’s brother on a F1 simulator. Nicolas Hamilton has Cerebral Palsy meaning he races using a modified car and has made history (with the help from Mercedes) by racing on a modified F1 simulator becoming the first ever disabled person to drive one.

Arthur can relate to Nicolas as he has a rare childhood neurological disorder called Ataxia-telangiectasia. This affects a part of his brain which controls the intended movement of muscles and speech. Through the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Arthur was given the opportunity to go to Monaco in 2016 to watch the Grand Prix and meet all of the drivers there. During this trip he met Lewis Hamilton and ever since he has been a Mercedes fan.

After seeing Mercedes post on Facebook, Arthur asked his lecturer to see if there was a chance of having a go himself – and there was. His lecturer arranged a day for Arthur to experience the thrills and spills of motor racing in the College’s own racing simulator. If Arthur had his way he’d still be sat there now, laying down rubber on his favourite tracks from the 2022 season.

Arthur’s favourite part of the whole experience was “going around the corners because you could feel the car stick out in the back.”

Arthur is currently studying Esports (Content Creation & Management) Diploma Level 2 having progressed from computing and creative computing. In the future, Arthur aspires to do web development and “would like to help people with their websites by adding images and designing the layout of their websites.”