AS LEWIS Hamilton, 22, catapults to fame and fortune, his mother has revealed for the first time why she split with the racer's father.

Carmen Lockhart, 51, said it was her then-husband's lust for glory for their prodigy son that drove them apart. They separated when Hamilton was only two.

The McLaren ace was brought up by his father, Tony, with whom he still lives, together with his younger brother Nicolas and step-mother Linda.

Lockhart told The Telegraph: 'Tony wanted to be somebody and he has achieved that. I wanted the quiet life and that put a barrier between us.

'I couldn't see myself in that busy, hectic lifestyle, but I didn't stop him making sure Lewis got what he wanted.

'It didn't damage Lewis. He is probably better for it than if we had stuck together in an unhappy marriage.

'Lewis is very special for me because we tried for a long time to have him. Lewis was the best thing to come out of my marriage.''