Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A genius on the track... now at 35, Hamilton has just found his voice off it
LEWIS MADE WAVES AS HE CALLED ON FELLOW DRIVERS TO SPEAK OUT OVER RACISM IN AMERICA
LEWIS HAMILTON has always been ahead of his time at the wheel but the lead he has taken on racism may signal a belated coming of age beyond the racetrack.
Calling out his white work colleagues on the Formula One grid for keeping their counsel over the killing of George Floyd and wider societal problems was controversial.
However repulsive the act, just because a fellow driver fails to post on Instagram condemning it does not make him a white supremacist.
Hamilton’s front-foot stance will have angered some of his rivals. But the fact is that his confrontational words, “I know who you are and I see you”, flushed out a parade of drivers who were subsequently grateful for being pushed to articulate the feelings of revulsion they were experiencing.
Those were feelings shared by 99.99 per cent of the population. Being required to stand up and speak out turned out really not to be so bad.
The voice of a world champion sportsman carries a long way and that power can be an uncomfortable one at times.
When Hamilton addressed the climate crisis after last year’s Japanese Grand Prix and bemoaned the world’s response to it, he was slammed for gross hypocrisy given his gas-guzzling occupation and colossal air miles collection.
If that was Hamilton searching for a meaning beyond his 84 wins, six world titles and bulging bank account it carried all the impact of Dominic Cummings lecturing on safety at the wheel.
This week, though, the ripples from his genuine rage at an issue much closer to home have made waves.
For Hamilton, as the son of a black father and white mother, matters of identity – and racism – have always accompanied him.
As he wrote this week, “Those of us who are black, brown or in between, see it every day and should not have to feel as though we were born guilty, don’t belong, or fear for our lives based on the colour of our skin.”
He has dominated Formula One as the sole driver of colour, a flag-bearer for diversity but a lonely one.
The distance has been in part down to his own personality.
After his cosseted start at Mclaren, Hamilton has carried a Peter Pan-like quality through his career as the child who never quite grew up.
But lockdown has provided an unexpected time of reflection for many and an opportunity to reassess what’s important in life.
If, for Hamilton, that means social injustice it points to a newly-formed layer of maturity.
At 35 he may finally be on the way to finding himself.