• To date, there have been two races in on the African continent: in Marrakesh in 1958, and then at Kayalmi in South Africa until 1993.
• With Anthony, his ferociously loyal and hardworking father, at his side, Hamilton fought racism and discrimination to make his way to the top.
Image: FILE
Looking to my right, Lewis Hamilton is pointing the way. In his white helmet, complete with matching overalls, the Formula One sensation is showing me how it’s done.
We are at Rye House, the karting track in Hertfordshire, England, where Hamilton learned his craft. It is more akin to the rustic karting track off Nairobi’s Langata Road than the circuits he graces today. I am the Formula One Correspondent for The Telegraph, one of the biggest British newspapers, living out my childhood dream. It is just a few days before the British Grand six years ago. Since then, barely anyone has managed to dent his dominance.
Hamilton toys with me. I do my best to follow his path for just a few corners. For a moment it feels like I’m in his slipstream. And then he’s gone, off into the distance in a flash. My dented pride gains comfort from knowing that almost no-one else has come much closer at any time since, as he moves irrepressibly to becoming the greatest and most successful Formula One driver of all time.
Hamilton is unique. The only black driver to ever race in Formula One, he is the only black driver to win. Eighty-seven races after the British Grand Prix – held at Silverstone earlier this month – and six titles so far. The seventh, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record, will surely come this year. About the only thing which can stop him is a Covid-19 enforced absence. His upbringing was not one of Monaco luxury, like many of his rivals. With Anthony, his ferociously loyal and hardworking father, at his side, he fought racism and discrimination to make his way to the top. His chance was earned through talent and hard graft.
But in one sense, he follows in the footsteps of a phenomenal British tradition in Formula One. This worldwide sport which motors to 20 or more countries around the globe each year is very much a British creation. There is a good reason Hamilton almost always wins — despite being watched by 500 million people across five continents, F1 is a UK success story.
The statistics are undeniable. Seven of the 10 teams are based in the UK. Mercedes, a German powerhouse dominating the sport, design and build their cars and engines in the UK, in Brackley and Brixworth, Northamptonshire. As a journalist covering the sport, you could see two thirds of the teams at their factories in a day. In Motorsport Valley, situated in the Midlands, there are more than 25,000 highly skilled engineers, along with 30 universities and 140 colleges teaching the brilliant minds who end up in the sport. More than 80 per cent of the world’s top motorsport engineers are in the UK.
As the former driver Mark Webber joked, perhaps the famous Ferrari team should think about moving their factory to England in search of a wider pool of talent. (Apologies to my friends at the Italian Embassy for that cheap shot). The first championship race was at Silverstone in 1950 (that one was won by an Italian, Nino Farina). One of the happy quirks of this Covid-19-affected season is there were two races at Silverstone, the second one on Sunday called the ‘70th Anniversary Grand Prix’.
Then there are the drivers. Hamilton is the 10th world champion heralding from the UK. His six are among 18 titles won by British drivers since the sport started in 1950. One of Hamilton’s predecessors, Sir Jackie Stewart, was instrumental in turning it from an adrenaline-fuelled but dangerous pursuit, to a serious, professional and relatively safe sport. There are currently three British drivers on the grid, the latest in a long line of talent. Names from the past like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button are just a few which stand out. Love him or loathe him — there was certainly never a dull moment covering him — Bernie Ecclestone, himself a former driver, turned F1 into the global spectacle it is today as the sport’s supremo from his Knightsbridge base.
Hamilton sits at the top of this mountain of greats. Fast, fair, and focused, he is the driver of his generation, and perhaps of all generations. He can be driving on three wheels and still win, as he did at Silverstone earlier this month. Contrary to how he has been portrayed at times, I always found him a thoroughly decent, polite, interesting person. Growing up in the public eye, with all the scrutiny that brings, can leave anyone a little wary of the media. But he is a sportsman of which the UK can be — and is — hugely proud.
Away from pure speed behind the wheel, he has really come into his own since the tragic death of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter protests. Gone are the white overalls and silver livery of the Mercedes: they now race in black. Unafraid to upset the motorsport establishment, he has been vigorous and eloquent in pushing for greater diversity in Formula One. He has used his platform effectively, launching the Hamilton Commission to increase diversity in motorsport.
“Despite my success in the sport, the institutional barriers that have kept F1 highly exclusive persist,” he said when the Commission was launched earlier this year. “It is not enough to point to me, or to a single new black hire, as a meaningful example of progress.”
But Hamilton is an inspiration. Not just for motorsport fans in the UK, and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, but across the world too. I have only been in Kenya for a few short months, but when I mention my previous job only one name comes up: Lewis Hamilton. Kenya is yet to have its own F1 driver, or race. Names like Vic Preston Jr were part of Kenya’s huge rallying scene, while Jeremy Wahome raced in British Formula 3. But when Kenya does have its first F1 driver, I am sure that young man or woman will point to Hamilton as one of the biggest reasons they got into the sport.
To date, there have been two races in on the African continent: in Marrakesh in 1958, and then at Kayalmi in South Africa until 1993. It is a long and unwelcome gap which Hamilton is among the keenest to rectify.
“It’s such an important place to go back,” Hamilton said recently. “At the moment Formula 1 goes to countries and doesn’t really leave much behind, if anything. F1 has to shift to being a sport that does go to places and leaves behind something that can really help the communities. I think bringing the attention back to Africa and really highlighting the beautiful place that it is, that’s the most important place we have to go to. It needs to be held where it’s not all about money. It’s about the people. In business, that’s not always the case. That’s something I’m really pushing for.”
Now is the time for Formula One to come back to Africa. Selfishly, I hope any race would end up in Kenya, with all the beautiful backdrops it offers. It would allow me to go to a race for the first time since leaving The Telegraph at the end of 2016. I could have endless fun organising a warm-up race of Ambassadors and High Commissioners.
For now, we will all have to enjoy Hamilton’s exploits on TV, as he continues his quest to become the greatest driver of all time. Perhaps, in my view, the greatest British sportsman of all time too. And I will head back to the kart track, still trying to learn how it’s done.
Daniel Johnson is the Head of Communications at the British High Commission, and former Formula One Correspondent for The Telegraph newspaper in the UK.