Who is Lewis Hamilton?
We get to know the new phenom in Formula One racing.
The most sensationalized rookie in Formula One in the last 10 years is here. And just to prove how serious he is, he is leading the championship in only his fourth race.
“I have a dream…” Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words in 1963, and his dream was a dream for his people and his country.
Lewis Hamilton has a dream too. He has a dream for himself and his family. His dream is to win the Formula One World Drivers Championship. But who is Lewis Hamilton, where did he come from, and where will he end up in the annals of Formula One history?
Lewis Carl Hamilton was born January 7th 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. His grandparents moved from Grenada to the UK in the 1950’s.
Lewis, who was named after the US Olympic athlete, Carl Lewis, started racing in karts at the age of 8 in a kart bought by his father, Anthony. His interests were sparked while spending weekends with his dad racing remote control cars. By the age of 10 Lewis had won his first British Kart Championship. Lewis kept on winning in and progressing through karting and at the age of 13 was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Support Programme by Ron Dennis of McLaren Formula One.
Following on from his impressive young karting career Lewis moved onto the junior formulas where he continued his winning ways. He won races in the British Formula Renault and Formula Renault Eurocup in 2002 before winning the 2003 British Formula Renault Championship outright. Everything did not however go young Lewis’s way, in the final round of the British Formula Three Championship, his debut appearance, he crashed out of the first race and in the second race, collided with his teammate and had to be taken to hospital. In 2004 he won a race in the Formula 3 Euroseries and was also the winner of the Bahrain F3 Superprix. Hamilton switched teams from Manor Motorsport to ASM for 2005 and duly won the Formula 3 Euroseries by winning 15 out of 20 races. Lewis then moved on to the Formula One feeder series GP2, where he won the championship at his first attempt. The next logical step in his amazing career was Formula One. On Friday, 24th November 2006, it was announced to the world that Lewis Hamilton would partner Fernando Alonso for the 2007 season.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Lewis. “To be racing in Formula One with McLaren has been the ultimate goal for me since I was very young and this opportunity is a fantastic way to end what has been the best year for me.”
It seems as if his dream is just beginning, for not only has he finally made it to Formula One, but after four races has astonished and shocked the Formula One fraternity by leading the world championship. The youngest ever driver to do so, beating the record set by none other than Bruce McLaren, the founder of the team for which he is now racing.
“I keep saying that I’m living my dream, and it’s really true, you know.” Lewis said.
Martin Luther King, Jr. also said during his speech “… that all men are created equal…” it seems as though, in the world of Formula One, maybe there might be an exception to this rule. Of course time will tell, but with four trips to the podium in his first four races, and more to come, Lewis Hamilton might just become the dream driver for McLaren and Formula One fans everywhere.
