The Legacy of Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most race wins in Formula One history, with ninety-four to date. What does his legacy mean as a black sportsman in a traditionally elite sport?
According to Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton’s seventh Formula One victory over the weekend (I’m writing this on the 17th November) has "cemented his position" among the greatest sportsmen in the world. His win puts him alongside Michael Schumacher, who for over two decades, was unbeatable. At present, both men are neck-and-neck when it comes to F1 wins, but in terms of race wins, Hamilton is ahead by three.
What impact has his presence on the motor racing scene had in the thirteen years since he came to public attention? And what can we learn from the rise of this mixed-race man from Stevenage, who has become Britain’s most successful Formula One driver, and the most successful driver in the world?
Elite or Elitist?
I thought it would be helpful to establish what an elite sport actually is. Trawling through Google to find the definition was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so I thought it be useful to define ‘elite’ in the context of sport and determine from there what an elite sport is. In his blogpost, Defining ‘Ellite’ In Sport, Paul Gamble asserts that ‘elite’ is a term that describes a series of behaviours and standards. For example, to be an elite athlete or sportsperson, you must accept that your life will not be one of comfort. Early morning training, adhering to a strict diet, and practising the same somersault/pass/shot thousands of times until you have perfected it will be the order of the day for anyone who aspires to be elite. Taking Gamble’s definition to its logical conclusion then, an elite sport is one which demands a level of dedication and single-mindedness that most of us could not even dream of.
The second ‘definition’ of elite sport is the one I imagine most of us think of when Formula One racing comes to mind. In today’s parlance, elite sports are characterized by wealth and privilege, with a sprinkling exclusivity, which actually makes them elitist. As I continued with my research, I discovered almost all of the famous British drivers came from comfortable families, and some of the foreign ones – Villeneuve and Senna, for example – had wealthy parents, putting motor racing firmly in the category of an elitist sport (the devil is in the definition!).
Breaking down class barriers
Researching British racing drivers, I discovered that almost without exception, they came from sufficiently well to do families: James Hunt’s mother was a descendant of an industrialist and politician, his father a stockbroker. Jim Clark came from a farming family and spent three years in a preparatory school while Damon Hill’s father was the late Graham Hill, a racing driver who died in a crash. All of them had the financial means to easily support their sons’ ambitions.
By contrast, Lewis Hamilton’s father’s family hailed from the small Caribbean island of Grenada. Caribbean people arriving in Britain in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, came to work in the factories, hospitals and on the buses, and would therefore have been categorised as working class. It is these humble beginnings that make Hamilton’s recent achievement all the more epic and legendary. He accomplished something that his privileged predecessors could not. And he did it all with one hand tied metaphorically behind his back: his father worked four jobs to support his ambitions and one of his first karts was bought second-hand.
A Black man in White man’s arena
The road to success was far from easy. As a child, he was subjected to racist bullying and name-calling when he participated in competitions. The prejudice did not stop when he grew up, either.
I recall in 2007 listening to sports commentators on the radio who were discussing this ‘disruptor’. I don’t recollect which race they were talking about, but their assessment of Hamilton was far from encouraging. I’d grown up in the eighties athletes like Daly Thompson, Tessa Sanderson and Luther Blissett (to name a few) were making their mark. Even as a child, I was acutely aware of the negative way in which sports pundits talked about them. They did not get the same kind of props and praise that White British athletes received. There was a sense that Black sportsmen and women were only British when they won. Until then, they were ‘on probation’. As I listened to the remarks, something told me to remember this day, and I prayed Hamilton would prove them wrong.
No one could ever beat Michael Schumacher
In the 1970s and 80s, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and Niki Lauda were huge names on the British and international motor racing scene. By the nineties, the likes of Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher had become a force to be reckoned with, with the latter making a name for himself until his victories became a foregone conclusion. Race after race, he gave his rivals – Alonso, Villeneuve and Senna short shrift, overtaking Senna’s four Grand Prix titles in 1994. There’s no doubt – in my mind at least – that had Schumacher’s career not been cut short, Hamilton would have been his closest rival.
Lewis’ legacy
So, what is the significance of Hamilton’s victory in a traditionally elite sport? Like many before him, he has forged a path that was historically closed to ‘people like’ him. He has defied other people’s expectations of what he can achieve, and when it comes to believing in his ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible, he has kept his own counsel and continued to put one foot in front of the other, doing what was necessary to realise his dreams.
We acknowledge Black sportswomen and men – Serena and Venus Williams, Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, Arthur Ash and Althea Gibson – who reached the top of their game in elite sports. What makes Lewis Hamilton different from them (perhaps) is the radical and risky stance he took at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. Remember the price Colin Kaepernick paid when he took a knee in 2016? Lewis Hamilton used his platform to show solidarity with those in the struggle. In donning a Black Lives Matter face mask and shirt at events, raising his fist, taking a knee and calling out racism, he became one of only a few Black athletes who have had the conviction speak out, arguably making him as much a sporting legend in the 21st century as Muhammad Ali was in the twentieth.
Lewis Hamilton has demonstrated to upcoming sportspeople that it is possible to be the best in the world and at the same time, be an advocate for justice.
Written by Laurie O’Garro
When the country’s not in semi-lockdown, Laurie works for the Metropolitan Police and pursues a craft called ‘string art’. Her daughter is currently in her final year of university, studying online in London. Laurie also writes poetry and flash fiction.
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