Lewis Hamilton: The New 'It' Man?
Hamilton is the first black and the youngest man to win Formula One title.
LONDON, Nov. 10, 2008 -- While the world is abuzz with the news that America has elected it's first black president, Barack Obama, the sporting world has been chattering about a first of a different kind. Lewis Hamilton has been crowned the first black Formula One champion.
So who is Lewis Hamilton? At 23 he is the youngest Formula One racing world champion ever, and boyfriend to Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger; he has set himself up for what may be record-breaking earnings by way of championships and endorsements, potentially to exceed $1 billion.
Not bad for someone who wasn't even eligible for a driver's license until a few years ago. Even the champ describes his accomplishments as a "fairy-tale story."
In nail-biting fashion, he seized the world championship title in the final moments of the final lap of Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Speaking about the magical final lap, Hamilton said on his official Web site, "My heart was about to explode. I don't know how I kept my cool and I was very fortunate especially on the last lap and you know, this has been my dream."
Needing only a fifth-place finish to claim the Formula One title in Sunday's race, Hamilton was riding comfortably in that position through much of the race. However, an unexpected move into fourth place by German driver Timo Glock forced Hamilton, who was then bumped to sixth, to maneuver a dramatic dash in the final lap of the race.
With only a few hundred yards remaining, Hamilton, a member of the McLaren racing team, got himself into fifth and stayed there through the finish line to claim his spot in the record books. The electrifying ending allowed Hamilton to take a 98-97 point lead and go on to become the youngest and first black Formula One world champion. All this coming just a year after Hamilton came up one point short of the title.
Lewis Hamilton grew up in Hertfordshire, England. Hamilton's father, who is black, and his mother, who is white, divorced when he was 2 years old. He began racing remote-controlled cars as a 6 year old, and when he had had mastered that art, he moved on to go-kart racing and became Britain's youngest karting champion at the age of 10 in 1995.
Later that year, Hamilton's father, who worked for the British railway system, took the boy to meet the head of the McLaren racing team, Ron Dennis, at the Autosport Awards, an annual ceremony hosted by the U.K.'s Autosport magazine. Young Hamilton introduced himself to the Dennis and confidently proclaimed, "I'm going to race for you one day!"
At 13, Hamilton signed on with McLaren, and the organization sponsored his karting and racing until he became a full time Formula One racer in 2007. Hamilton was certainly prophetic in his declaration by not only landing a spot on the McLaren team but by bringing a championship to the organization.
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