FORMULA 1 CHAMPION 2017 AGAIN

Gary Norris Gray-BASN-Newsroom-Staff Reporter

OAKLAND, CA.- Black athletes around the world show their talent, their skills, on the field, gym, diamond, park, court, or rink. Americans never thought there could be a Black race car driving champion but Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton broke that mold in 2008 with his first Formula 1 Championship.

Everyone knows who international race car champion Sir Jackie Stewart from Great Britain or German race car champions Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel are, but when the name of Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton surfaces few recognize the name or his race car accomplishments.

Americans are not familiar with the European-World Formula 1 racing car format compared to the American IndyCar Series. Americans know A.J. Foyt, The Andretti and Unser families, they know about the Indianapolis 500 in Indiana but they are now slowly becoming aware of the Formula One World Racing Championships and their Grand Prix format. A Black British national champion is changing that. Hamilton’s daring racing style of challenging the lead cars driving into turns, which is almost never done because of the limited space and time. Lewis Hamilton has changed that.

Lewis Hamilton in November 2017 won his fourth Formula 1 team championship and his fourth individual championship by coming in fourth place in the Mexican Grand Prix, joining the elite class of racers with 4 championships He is now in the company of Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio, and France’s Alain Prost. Hamilton must love that number four.

There are two more races to go this season to close out the 2017 Formula 1 racing circuit, The Grand Prix of Brazil and ending the season with the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton had the good fortune to have a very  competitive Mercedes Benz teammate Nico Rosberg from Germany. The two pushed each other and helped each other the last three years. Rosberg won the individual championship in 2016 keeping the crown in the family. Rosberg retired at the end of the 2016 racing season.

Hamilton started his racing at a very early age of ten he won the British Cadet Kart Championship with only two years of racing experience. He continued his success with another victory in the British juniors at the age of 15.

He won this year’s championship with nine victories with 333 points, and 12 podiums. He is the 5th person to win 4 championships. Lewis Hamilton is the second youngest to win a championship at 23 years old in 2008.

He also had to deal with racial issues his second year on the Formula 1 circuit as the Spanish fan base thought it would be cute to dress up in black face, slinging bananas on the race track and chanting monkey sounds when his car passed the stands. The Federation Internationale De L’Automobile (FIA) gave a warning that they would be punished and censured if this continued. Hamilton’s answered the Spanish racing fan club by winning his first world championship a year later.

This is ironic because the only current international racing driver that can catch Hamilton is his former teammate Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, who has two championships 2005 and 2006.

So congratulations to Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton as he walks into the Black Sports Hall of Fame and history.

Gary Norris Gray – Writer, Author, Historian, Gibbs Magazine-Oakland, California and New England Informer- Boston, Mass. THE GRAYLINE:- The Analects of A Black Disabled Man, The Gray Leopard Cove, Soul Tree Radio In The Raw, and The Batchelor Pad Network, Disabled Community Activist. Email at garyngray@blackathlete.com

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