HE WILL be hoping for a quick start off the grid at today’s Canadian Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton has largely given up driving on public roads because of boy racers trying to beat him away from traffic lights.

The former Formula One champion has revealed he is so fearful of accidents as drivers try to prove themselves that he uses a chauffeur for most of his journeys away from the track.

Asked if other motorists tried to gain bragging rights by racing him, Hamilton replied: “Yes — there’s just no point risking it. The media swell that comes afterwards, the aftermath, it’s just not worth it. I don’t actually drive any more.”

Hamilton, who began racing karts aged eight, won the world drivers’ championship