Why is Lewis singled out over tax?
tHe strange thing with Lewis Hamilton’s tax affairs, is that they never seem to affect Paula radcliffe, or chris Froome, or Jenson Button, or Geraint thomas. Hamilton’s Monaco residence is always held up as some kind of stain on his character in a way it never was, or never is, for other British sports heroes who reside there. It’s almost as if there is something else setting him apart, something other. Maybe the barely concealed contempt rio Ferdinand referred to yesterday. ‘Was Jenson’s Britishness ever questioned for living in Monaco?’ wrote Ferdinand. ‘Not a chance. I will tell you why — because he looked similar, sounded similar, dressed similar and walked similar to the people who raise questions of Hamilton. the level of disrespect and racist undertones in questioning Hamilton’s patriotism should not be underestimated.’ He’s right. Nobody ever says radcliffe was less than British having now lived in Monaco for two decades, nobody said it of Button, or of Britain’s tour de France winners, either. Yet Hamilton constantly battles against negative perceptions, with his tax status used as flimsy moral justification. He wears diamond earrings and flamboyant clothes, too. Why can’t he be meek and down-to-earth like all those other Formula One drivers? It’s not as if being the best at racing the fastest cars on the planet might lead to a man developing an extravagance of style. At Silverstone on Sunday, Hamilton won his sixth British Grand Prix, a record for any driver, not just a British national. Michael Schumacher, by contrast, won three. those who don’t get it argue Hamilton drives the best car. But that’s not an accident, either. the best drivers end up with the best constructors, in the best machine. Hamilton did not demand to drive for Mercedes. they chose him. And they did so because he is the finest out there, one of the greatest pilots around a circuit there has ever been. And like a lot of the greatest sports people — Andy Murray, Serena Williams, tiger Woods, vijay Singh — he had no right to be as good as he became. Black kids from poor families in Stevenage do not become Formula One champions. Black kids from rich families in Stevenage don’t, either. Hamilton is an outlier, an unprecedented force of will and, as such, an inspiration no matter where he lays his hat. ‘I go to all these races and I lift the British flag proudly,’ he said. ‘there is no one else in this sport that has raised it so high.’ Indeed. And if that is troubling, it might say more about you than it does him.