Salute Lewis Hamilton the youngest ever winner of the F1 Championships
Last updated 11/3/2008 6:26:42 PM
Lewis Hamilton the youngest ever winner of the F1 Championships
Seemingly against all the odds and everything Formula One and God could throw at him, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest ever World Champion in Brazil on Sunday (November 2).
In a nail biting finish to a long and tumultuous season the 23 year old Hamilton, needing to finish in the top five to clinch the title that slipped from his grasp exactly a year earlier, made certain of the greatest prize on the very last corner when he raced past the slowing Toyota steered by Timo Glock to move from sixth to fifth.
It meant that he had pipped local boy Felipe Massa by a single point and ended the premature celebrations of the Ferrari camp and the thousands of Massa's fellow Brazilians in the stands of the atmospheric Interlagos Stadium where the ecstasy turned to agony and, sadly, the cheers turned to boos.
The jeers were dismissed as reaction to the dramatic loss of their title by their favourite son but it hardly explained the same jeers which greeted the young Englishman on his every appearance over the three days.
The victory is no more than this likeable, totally dedicated young man from Stevenage deserved. The super optimist who never once doubted his ability to lift the crown despite the barriers built in front of him.
He has emerged as a role model not only for sportsmen from ordinary backgrounds – his ever present father and manager Anthony had to work two jobs to support him when he was on his way up - but also as the first black driver to win such a coveted title.
He has achieved his objective with grace off the track and aggressive determination on it and it is my belief that he can do as much for his sport and other sports as Tiger Woods has done for golf and the Afro American in the USA.
YET THERE REMAINS A STRANGE AND INEXPLICABLE RESISTANCE TO THIS BRILLIANT COMPETITOR , TYPIFIED BY RADIO FIVE LIVE ON MONDAY MORNING AFTER THE RACE WHEN THEY ALLOWED HIS DETRACTORS TO RAIN ON HIS PARADE.
The major complaint seemed to be that he lives in Switzerland and doesn't pay taxes. If that argument were to be pursued then many of our top individual sports people, show biz, pop stars and leading figures in business, would also be reviled.
I also did not notice the disaffected nor the British Government helping him and his family when they were scratching to make a living before the young man with the film star looks cracked the big time last season.