Lewis Hamilton told an emotional story involving his sister about how he became an Arsenal fan as he reacted to the Gunners’ Premier League title success. Manager Mikel Arteta has led the north London outfit to a first league title since the 2004 ‘Invincibles’ season, confirmed on Tuesday night when rivals Manchester City were held to a draw by Bournemouth.

Hamilton is one of Arsenal’s most high-profile supporters and had the chance to congratulate his boyhood club’s title-winning heroes on media day ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. And he did so while telling the story of how he came to be a Gooner while growing up in Stevenage.

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Asked how he felt on Tuesday night when the title was confirmed, Hamilton replied: “Like for everyone, very emotional. I shed a tear, to be honest, because I remember I was five years old and I used to play in Stevenage and Peartree Way, I used to play football with friends.

“I was the only black kid in the area, out of the people I was playing with, and I remember trying to fit in and all of them supported different teams: West Ham, Tottenham, Manchester and so on. So I was bouncing between all these when I was like four or five years old, depending on who I was with.

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“My sister, I was messaging her the other day, she was walking me home and she asked me what team I supported, and she gave me a dead arm, a little dig in my arm and said, ‘You have to support Arsenal’. So we had a laugh yesterday about it.”

Hamilton 41, was just 19 years old the last time Arsenal were crowned the best team in England, his Formula 1 debut still nearly three years away. Since then he has seen the Gunners lift the FA Cup five times, but after a couple of near-misses in recent years he was delighted to see the club finally get the job done under Arteta.

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He added: “We’ve had so many close moments and, to finally get it, it was like, ‘Wow’. A lot of emotion came up for me, as I’m sure it did for so many people. I’m just so happy and proud of the team. Obviously, Arsene [Wenger] was great, but I think the direction they’ve gone in the past couple of years has been fantastic.

“I’ve been very inspired by what they’ve done. I’m really, really proud of the team and I think they can go from strength to strength from here, and only get stronger.”