Lewis Hamilton’s (41) Vegan Lifestyle Influences More Than His Own Diet

Formula One careers do not usually come with a side project involving burger patties and oat milk. Lewis Hamilton built one anyway, and it turned into a story with more twists than a typical celebrity endorsement deal.

The venture reached further than his own plate, and did not end quite the way anyone expected. Here is where it actually went.

A Diet Change That Turned Into a Business

Hamilton gave up meat in 2017, citing both environmental concerns and animal welfare as his main reasons. Two years later, he co-founded Neat Burger alongside The Cream Group and Italian entrepreneur Tommaso Chiabra, betting that a plant based fast food chain could win over more than just committed vegans.

The first location opened just off London’s Regent Street, serving Beyond Meat patties alongside sides like tater tots and sweet potato fries. Hamilton tweeted at the time that the burgers would “win the hearts of meat-eaters, vegans and everybody in between,” a pitch aimed squarely at people who had never considered a plant based burger before.

The Backing Went Well Beyond One Racing Driver

The chain expanded quickly, adding locations across London before moving into Dubai and eventually opening a flagship in New York City. Leonardo DiCaprio became a strategic investor along the way, calling the approach to alternative proteins one of the more promising solutions for reducing global emissions.

Hamilton did not stop at burgers either, putting money behind The Not Company, a Chilean plant based startup that later raised over two hundred million dollars in funding. Between the restaurant chain and the outside investments, his influence stretched well past what showed up on his own plate.

An Ending That Looked Nothing Like the Launch

Neat Burger’s momentum did not last. The chain ran into serious difficulty in 2025 and shut down the vast majority of its locations within a short span.

By the time anyone checked back in, only a single location remained open, tucked away in Milan rather than the London flagship or the New York location that once generated so much attention. It is a reminder that even a celebrity backed, well funded push into plant based food is not guaranteed to stick.

Hamilton’s own plate has stayed consistent since 2017, even as the business built around it had a rockier run. Sometimes the personal habit turns out to be more durable than the company built to sell it.