The first birthday wishes, unsurprisingly, came from Formula 1 itself, with thousands of fans flooding the comments to congratulate the most successful driver in the sport’s history, despite him coming off a difficult season.

Celebratory posts soon followed from Ferrari and Mercedes as well — the last two teams Hamilton has raced for — with Mercedes even adding a playful touch by writing “buon compleanno” in Italian.

Silverstone also joined the celebrations — Hamilton’s home circuit, where he has claimed victory an incredible nine times — hailing him as “an icon, a legend. The one and only Sir Lewis Hamilton.”

The seven-time world champion is now preparing to begin his 20th season in Formula 1, becoming only the second driver — alongside Fernando Alonso — to reach that milestone, pulling clear of other long-standing veterans such as Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Rubens Barrichello.

Just a few days earlier — on 3 January, to be precise — the other seven-time world champion also celebrated his birthday, marking his 57th.

Along with Formula 1, his former teams in the competition, Ferrari and Mercedes, also wished the German a happy birthday.