Lewis Hamilton says he made a mistake with Stevenage 'slums' comment

Five-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has apologised to residents of Stevenage, his boyhood home town, for suggesting he grew up in a slum.

The Briton, his country's most successful racing driver, was speaking on national television at Sunday's BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Talking about his rise to the top of motorsport, he said: "It was really a dream for us all, as a family, to do something different, to kind of, for us, to get out of the slums ... well that's what we would say, it was not the slums. But just come out from somewhere and do something."

The comment drew condemnation from offended civic authorities and a wide range of people on social media. Hamilton, who…