October is Black History Month, so every day during October I will be posting up an introduction to an historical person of colour with a place in the history of the United Kingdom.
Lewis Hamilton (MBE HonFREng) is a British racing driver and six-time Formula One World Champion. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, and considered by some to be the greatest of all time. He won his first World Drivers’ Championship with McLaren in 2008, before moving to Mercedes in 2013, with whom he has won a further five titles.
One of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport, Hamilton’s six World Championship titles is the second-most of all time, while he holds the records for the most wins (92), career points (3687), pole positions (97), podium finishes (161), points finishes (225), and championship points in a season (413).
Born and raised in Stevenage, Hamilton enjoyed a successful ascent up the racing ladder and was signed to the McLaren young driver programme in 1998. This later resulted in a Formula One drive with McLaren in 2007, making Hamilton the first and only black driver to race in the sport, as of 2020. That season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion—making a crucial overtake on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest Formula One World Champion in history. After four more years with McLaren without finishing higher than fourth in the drivers’ standings, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.
In the following years Hamilton won five further World Championship titles, including consecutive titles in 2014 and 2015 and again in 2017 and 2018. A third title followed in 2019 to complete a consecutive hat-trick of titles, bringing his tally to six overall, second only to Michael Schumacher.
Listed in the 2020 issue of Time as one of the 100 most influential people globally, Hamilton has been credited with furthering Formula One’s global following by appealing to a broader audience outside the sport, in part due to his high-profile lifestyle, environmental and social activism as well as his exploits in music and fashion. Hamilton has been targeted by racist abuse throughout his career and has been outspoken in his criticism of racial politics in Formula One as well as advocating for greater diversity in the sport. His treatment by British newspapers has also been criticised for carrying racial bias, and some have pointed to Hamilton’s race and physical appearance as reasons behind his perceived unpopularity among a portion of motorsport fans.
More about Lewis Hamilton at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hamilton