Hamilton gets council permission to remove tree after battle with locals

Lewis Hamilton has been granted permission to chop a tree down after a battle with the Kensington and Chelsea borough council in England. The plans caused anger amongst local residents but the seven-time World Champion now has permission for the tree to be removed. 

"Beautiful tree"

According to many residents, the tree was "beautiful" and the F1 driver would be destroying nature by removing it. But Hamilton's tree surgeon suggested it was mostly dead and dying. The council agreed. 

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service and the BBC, "Hamilton's Victorian house has a 200ft (60m) garden and a private driveway and the Mercedes driver has had a range of work carried out since he reportedly bought the property five years ago for £18m." 

The council report went on to state that gates were installed to "improve the character and privacy of the building." It's not the first time the Mercedes driver has angered local residents either as he previously removed a summer house in 2020. 

GPblog has been told "The tree in question has been removed and has been replaced. It was a tree that Hamilton particularly liked, but unfortunately, the professional tree surgeons working at the property reported that the tree was mostly dead and dying. As such, Lewis took the advice to remove the tree and replaced it with an Apple Blossom Cherry tree, which is very similar to the one removed." 

Hamilton is currently experiencing one of his worst starts to a Formula 1 season. In the last Grand Prix in Imola, the Brit finished in a lonely 13th place whilst British teammate George Russell advanced through the field for a P4 finish. After the race, Hamilton stated that he believes he is out of the World Championship title fights after just four rounds of the season. 

Mercedes insist they are working hard to fix a porpoising issue on their cars, but don't seem to have produced any upgrades to improve it yet.