 Lewis Hamilton
Racing Ahead
Formula One has a black champion at last, with Lewis Hamilton winning the 2008 Championship, says JOSHY JOSEPH.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Lewis Hamilton proved this by winning his first World Championship at Interlagos after the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 2, 2008. This time around, he ensured that he did not repeat the same folly he committed almost a year ago, wherein, in a display of callowness, he lost the championship. Lewis Hamilton did exactly what he needed to do: stay cool, keep away from trouble and get into positions to convert the points he needed to become the world champion of Formula One. This was no easy task. He says, "My heart was about to explode. I don't know how I kept my cool and I was very fortunate especially on the last lap and you know; this has been my dream."
 A champion in the making
Hamilton's first taste of racing came at the controls of a radio-controlled car. His father Anthony bought him one in 1991, and Hamilton finished second in the national British Radio Car Association Championship the following year. That led to Hamilton sampling kart racing for the first time. Aged six, his father bought him his first go-kart as a Christmas present, and promised that he would support Lewis' racing career as long as he worked hard at school. When his father found it difficult to financially support his son's career, he began to work three jobs at a time and still found enough time to be present at all the races his son took part in.
 Focused on his goal
Hamilton began karting in 1993, at the age of eight, and soon began to win races and championships. When he was 10, he approached McLaren F1 team boss Ron Dennis for an autograph, and told him, "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton and one day I want to be racing your cars." Dennis wrote in his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then." Ron Dennis actually called him a few years later, after Hamilton started winning championships. Less than three years later, he was signed by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz to their Young Driver Support Programme. He became a McLaren F1 driver in 2007, making his F1 debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. He recently cemented his relationship with them by signing a five-year multi-million pound contract to stay with McLaren-Mercedes until at least the end of the 2012 season.
New world records
From then on there was no looking back. Lewis Hamilton raced himself into the record books as Formula One's youngest champion and the first black Formula One title holder. Twenty-three-year-old Hamilton drove a measured and calculated race in his McLaren-Mercedes as he claimed the title at the end of only his second season in Formula One.
Hamilton's triumph also made him the first Briton to take the world title since Damon Hill in 1996; and the first McLaren champion since Finn Mika Hakkinen in 1999. The previous youngest champion was two-time Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault who was 24 when he won the title in 2005.
 Race and history
Ahead of the world championship finale in 2007, Hamilton answered a question about what it would mean to him if he were to become the first black champion, saying: "It will show that not only white people can do it, but also black people, Indians, Japanese and Chinese. It will be good to mean something." Hamilton finished second in the Championship behind Kimi Räikkönen by just one point.
Hamilton added: "Outside of Formula One, my heroes are foremost my father, then Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Being black is not a negative. It's a positive, if anything, because I'm different. In the future, it could open doors to different cultures and that is what motor sport is trying to do anyway."
A quick learner
Like any other champion Hamilton too is quick to learn from his mistakes. "I think losing the 2007 world championship probably made me stronger and that is why we pulled through at the end of this one. This year we won some of the best races - Silverstone, Monaco, Germany - but there were races we lost either through a mistake from myself or by the team.
"People say the second year is harder, but I don't believe that. I think you just get stronger, you learn from mistakes, and hopefully, I will continue to grow as a driver. If that means winning more championships, so be it."
Hamilton is someone who is focused not only when he drives but even in his life. If he is world champion today it is courtesy sheer hard work and determination. He is goal-oriented, focused, persuasive and passionate in his drive to be successful. He is racing ahead and raring to go miles ahead!
|
The Race to Glory
