SIR Lewis Hamilton has taken his relationship with Kim Kardashian up a gear — going Instagram official.
The Formula 1 great took his girlfriend for a spin in a Ferrari in Tokyo and shared a video of it on social media.
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Loved-up Kim Kardashian shows off her curvesCredit: EPALewis took Kim for a spin in a Ferrari in TokyoCredit: InstagramLewis shared a video of the outing on social mediaCredit: Instagram / Lewis Hamilton
It showed the reality star grinning in the passenger seat.
After drifting down a road and spinning, he brought the car to a stop and Kim, said: “That’s insane.”
She flew out to Asia to be with him at the end of last month for the Japanese Grand Prix, but did not attend the race itself.
They have since been seen together in Paris and the US, but this is the first time either has publicly posted about the other on social media.
Kim, who was four kids with disgraced rapperKanye West, 48 — who she was married to from 2014 to 2022 — said last October she could not imagine herself dating another famous man.
She told a podcast that the person “would have to be someone super- special” for her to start another relationship.
Kim explained: “I don’t know if I have the energy or whether I’ve met the right person that I would want to blend my family with.”
On whether she might date another musician or athlete, she added: “Neither. We’re going, like, lawyers and longevity scientists who would give me all their secrets.”
After splitting from Kanye, she dated comedian Pete Davidson and then NFL player Odell Beckham Jr until things fizzled out in April 2024.
Kim flew out to Asia to be with Lewis at the end of last monthCredit: ShutterstockFormula 1 great Hamilton has hit out at those who criticised his recent performances on the trackCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Lewis has not had a serious relationship since he split from Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger in 2015 after almost eight years.
The driver is currently fourth in the F1 standings behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc — and hit out at those who criticised his recent performances.
Seven-time champ Lewis said: “When you have difficult years, there are lots of questions.
“It felt great to come into this season and start off strong, to be able to show that I still have what it takes to be able to compete at the front.”
When I think of the solidarity of musicians, I recall an iconic scene from the film “Titanic.”
It’s the one where a quartet plays “Nearer, My God, to Thee” as the great, “unsinkable” ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean.
They attempted to offer calm amid a sea of panic as passengers and crew feverishly boarded lifeboats. The events were based on a true story and historians note that the body of the Titanic band leader Wallace Hartley was found floating in the ocean “with his music case strapped to it.”
Even in tragedy, we seek music to bring us solace.
Much closer to home, musicians from Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other affected areas have been challenged to keep the music going after losing instruments, studio equipment and business along with their homes in the January 2025 fires that claimed the lives of 31 people.
One organization, Altadena Musicians, launched the app Instrumental Giving to connect donors who can spare an old piano or a gently used cello with those who lost similar instruments.
KC Mancebo, an Altadena Musicians advisor, spoke with The Times about the group’s mission and success.
The campaign’s genesis
It started with composers Brandon Jay and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, who saw their Altadena home, music studio and several instruments destroyed by the Eaton fire.
Shortly after the fire, Jay posted about the lost equipment and what each piece meant to his family.
He said the response from that post — hundreds of people offering their instruments and other types of aid — left him “overwhelmed and gobsmacked.”
He called friends and helpers from throughout the music industry, including Mancebo, chief executive of the event production and talent booking agency Clamorhouse, hoping to offer to others the same help he received.
Mancebo had been helping homeowners navigate fire insurance paperwork and processes.
“Brandon Jay asked, ‘Why don’t we start gathering instruments for our friends,” Mancebo said. “We had 25 friends in the Palisades and 15 friends in the Eaton fire that lost everything, so we and others got involved.”
How’s it going so far?
The organization has passed out around 3,500 instruments to 1,200 families since the first donations in late January 2025, Mancebo said.
The donations range from ukuleles to Steinway & Sons pianos.
“We’re providing instruments to anyone from children who lost their first instruments to people who lost their entire studio,” she said. “The need is great.”
The gifts have come from individual donors and corporate benefactors such as JBL, which has provided speakers and equipment, as well as guitar makers Fender and Gibson, among others.
Rebuilding from the ashes
Mancebo lost her Westside home eight years ago because of a defective dryer that caught fire, she said.
“I went through the whole process of insurance, permitting and rebuilding and we didn’t have FEMA or anyone to help,” she said. “I want to provide that help to those in a similar situation.”
Mancebo said it took eight years to recover and rebuild her home.
“No one is fine after the first year,” she said. “Everyone needs help.”
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, donated her Kawai Upright Piano to the Altadena Musicians organization on March 10, 2026.
(Courtesy of Amy Engelhardt)
One person’s goodbye is another’s hello
Brentwood resident Amy Engelhardt, a singer/songwriter, composer, lyricist and playwright, loved her Kawai upright piano she purchased through a PennySaver ad in 2000.
“It was a deal for the starving artist,” she said. “I paid so little and I always considered it a gift.”
Since then, Engelhardt said she has written all of her music on that piano. She didn’t, however, play it while recording her Grammy-nominated vocal group, the Bobs.
Still, she donated her piano this week to a woman who lost her home. The instrument would not be making the permanent move with Engelhardt back to New York, where her playwriting services are in demand.
“I did get emotional about it, but it’s OK,” Engelhardt said. “It’s comforting knowing that someone else will love it and create their own memories.”
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