If you are a Formula 1 fan, chances are you know who Lewis Hamilton is. If you don’t, then the name probably doesn’t sound too familiar. Lewis was a racing fanatic from a young age, boldly making his way onto the McLaren Formula 1 racing team before he was even old enough to drive. Later switching to the Mercedes-AMG team, Lewis Hamilton has had quite a career on the Formula 1 circuit, with several championships under his belt. What you might not realize is that Lewis Hamilton also has a pretty impressive collection of cars, but he’s about to give them all up.

Ditching gasoline

Lewis Hamilton isn’t giving up racing altogether, but he will be selling his entire collection of cars. Yes, that’s right, he’s selling every single car, except his electric Mercedes-Benz SUV, of course. Lewis says that he wants to leave a smaller carbon footprint and was concerned with the amount of damage gasoline engines cause to the environment. While just a few cars don’t make much of a difference, if it becomes enough of a trend, it will.

A look at his collection

Lewis Hamilton has a pretty interesting collection of cars, all of which he actually drives. Well, until he sells all of them, that is. Of his collection, my personal favorite is his purple Pagani Zonda LH, but it sits in the garage among an impressive array of cars. In case you were wondering what the LH stands for, it actually stands for Lewis Hamilton himself.

Lewis Hamilton is a role model

Whether you agree with Lewis’s decision to ditch his gas-powered cars or not, you have to admire the statement that he is making. As a public figure and respected car enthusiast, the decision to switch to all-electric makes him a real role model for the next generation of car enthusiasts, and who knows, with engineering teams like Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, and Koenigsegg hard at work revamping the latest and greatest technology, gasoline engines might be a thing of the past within the next few decades.

If a racing icon like Lewis Hamilton can give up gas-powered cars, there is no reason the rest of us can’t. Except, you probably don’t want to. There are a lot of gasoline-powered car purists that aren’t ready to make the switch to hybrid, or fully-electric even. Regardless of personal preference, it is still pretty cool to see someone of his caliber making such a big step.