Lewis Hamilton hard-launches relationship with Kim Kardashian

Key points

• Lewis Hamilton posted photos on Instagram on Thursday that hard-launched his relationship with Kim Kardashian.

• The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star commented a heart on the post.

• Hamilton’s post came hours after Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, announced the death of her own mother, Mary Jo Shannon.

Lewis Hamilton is taking his relationship to the next level.

The 41-year-old F1 superstar hard-launched his romance with Kim Kardashian, 45, in an Instagram post on Thursday.

The athlete’s post included a photo of himself and Kardashian sharing a tender moment on a boat on a lake, as well as a video from the same moment of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star grabbing him and falling into the water.

The final photo in the carousel showed Hamilton with his arm wrapped around Kardashian’s shoulder as she wore a hoodie from the Ferrari driver’s lifestyle brand, +44, tied around his waist.

Hamilton captioned the post, “hold your people close.”

Kardashian commented a heart emoji on the post, which was liked by her mother, Kris Jenner.

The All’s Fair star previously posted a photo of herself with Hamilton and her 8-year-old daughter, Chicago, on Instagram. “Summers at the lake with my favorite people,” she captioned her post.

Kardashian and Hamilton were first linked after being spotted at  Kate Hudson’s star-studded New Year’s Eve celebration in Aspen, Colo. The reality star reportedly joined Hamilton for a romantic weekend in the Cotswolds, England, in January, and was spotted alongside the racer at the Super Bowl in early February. 

Hamilton and Kardashian have since been seen together in Lake Powell, Ariz.; Tokyo; the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.; and Malibu, Calif.

The new couple previously double-dated with their former partners, as Hamilton and his former girlfriend, Nicole Scherzinger, attended the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2014 with Kardashian and her then-husband, Kanye West, who is now known as Ye. Hamilton reportedly befriended the “Gold Digger” musician and joined his family for an Easter celebration in 2015.

Hamilton’s Instagram post came just hours after Jenner announced the death of her mother, Mary Jo Shannon, who died Thursday at age 91.

“Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ. There are no words that could ever capture what she has meant to me or the heartbreak of having to say goodbye,” Jenner wrote on Instagram. “My mom was the heart of our family.”

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.

Kardashian shared her own tribute to Shannon just minutes after Hamilton posted his photos.

“My sweet Grandma MJ, my best friend, my gossip buddy, my forever twin… You taught all of us the importance of family, and those values are something we’ll carry with us forever!!!!!” she wrote. “You were the woman who showed me what it meant to be a hardworking businesswoman. You gave me my very first job at your store in San Diego and taught me lessons about work ethic, strength, and confidence that I’ve carried with me ever since.”

Kardashian continued, “You always believed in me, championed me, and were my safe place. You truly were the matriarch of our family, and your love is woven into all of us. I know you’re at peace now.”

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly