Hamilton turns racing world upside down with Formula One championship

The dog days of winter are hard for everyone, but are especially tough for motorsports enthusiasts. And with the 2009 season already shaping up to be a very interesting one, spring can’t come soon enough.

One intriguing twist is the effect that the world economy will have on motorsports. Audi is pulling out of ALMS competition, Honda is selling its Formula One team and several NASCAR teams will be joining forces.

In addition, circuits like the ALMS and Formula One are implementing “green” rules in an effort to lessen their impact on the environment. These will create new story lines unlike any other motorsports season before.

Also likely to create story lines this year is Lewis Hamilton. Who? Most U.S. fans probably ignored it last November, but ironically, his story was one of the most significant events in the history of motorsports.

On Nov. 2, 2008, motorsports history was made twice in Brazil. Hamilton, representing England, became the first black driver to win the Formula One world championship. The 23-year-old also became the youngest driver to win the championship.

While Formula One is not as popular here, it is the most popular motorsports circuit in the world. On a global scale, the sheer number of Formula One fans is staggering when compared with NASCAR.

To put things in perspective, soccer is the most popular sport worldwide with 1.1 billion watching the World Cup in 2002. In 1996, the last Super Bowl featuring the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers was watched by 93.2 million fans. And in 2002 the Daytona 500 NASCAR race was watched by 35 million viewers. By comparison, each Formula One race attracts 80 to 100 million fans from 200 countries.

Unlike NASCAR where manufacturers like Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford compete, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Ferrari compete in Formula One. And no other motorsports circuit comes close to the level technology and money spent in Formula One. For example, top NASCAR teams, like the Hendrick Motorsports team who has drivers Jeff Gordon, three time champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. spend $30-40 million to campaign each season. On the other hand, Formula One teams like McLaren Mercedes or Ferrari spend over $100 million each season. However the struggling world economy will change this a bit.

Hamilton’s recent success, while rare, is by no means revolutionary. In fact, nearly 50 years before Hamilton’s title-win, Wendell Scott became the first black driver to compete in NASCAR. Two years later Scott became the first black driver to win a NASCAR event when he crossed the checkered line at Jacksonville in 1963. Since then several other black drivers, proceeding Lewis Hamilton have achieved outstanding accomplishments in the world of motorsports.

In 1983 Willy T Ribbs was honored as the SCCA Trans-Am series rookie of the year after winning five races. Ribbs went on to become the first black driver to test a Formula One car in 1986 with the Brabham team and the first to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1991. Bill Lester, who competed in the Rolex Sportscar Series in 2008, also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman truck series. Lester had two top five Craftsman Truck finishes and six top ten finishes. He also raced in a NASCAR Nextel Cup series race in 2006, the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta, where he qualified 11th.

In 2007, Hamilton became the first Black F1 driver in the 60 year history of Formula One. When McLaren Mercedes team principle Ron Dennis promoted Lewis from the lower GP2 series, many thought it was too soon. But this doubt was silenced after the 22 year old Britton scored six pole positions and four wins. Lewis also came within one point of winning the world championship during his rookie season.

Hamilton’s journey to the F1 grid actually began with his father Anthony Hamilton who immigrated from Grenada in the Caribbean to England in the 1960s. Like most F1 drivers, Hamilton was introduced to karting early by his father. Like a young cowboy riding his first horse, Hamilton was initiated with a bloody nose after a crash during his first drive. And just like a cowboy getting back on a thrown horse, he was not deterred. His father quickly realized that this would be more than a passing fad. In order to support his sons new interest, Anthony Hamilton worked two part time jobs in addition to his full-time job at the railroad. Today, he owns and operates his own IT company in London.

At the ripe old age of 10, Lewis Hamilton approached guest of honor and motorsport icon Ron Dennis at the annual British motor racing awards ceremony. Initially, Hamilton asked for an autograph, which he followed with a request to drive for Dennis’ team. After signing Lewis’ poetry album, Dennis also wrote, “Give me a call in nine year’s time” along with his telephone number.

After Hamilton won the UK Karting title three years in a row, it was Dennis who called to inform him that he had been accepted in his young drivers’ program. Hamilton followed this by winning the European karting championship at 13 and then the British Formula Renault championship at the age 17.

Thus far Hamilton has displayed great poise on and off the track. One such occasion was after an on track incident at Barcelona when his teammate Alex Premat accidentally spun Hamilton off the track. Lewis was just a few corners away from winning the race but ended in third place. An observer noted how calm Hamilton was standing on the podium next to his teammate, who had won the race. They noticed how genuine Lewis seemed in celebrating Premat’s win after the flag ceremony. Anthony Hamilton was asked if his son had been coached on situations like this, and he replied, “It’s just the way we’ve brought him up... to take the rough with the smooth and always be thankful.”

Lewis Hamilton dominated the GP2 series, the last step before Formula One in 2006. Not only did he dominate from the front row, but he also displayed passing skill. After spinning during the opening laps of the GP2 sprint race in Turkey, he charged forward from the back of the field, and won the race. “In my view, it was not only one of the greatest drives of the year — in any category, in any form of racing — but also a case study in how to overtake the guy in front when everyone else is saying there’s “no room to pass” or “you lose too much downforce when you’re behind another car,” said Peter Windsor, F1 pitlane reporter for Speed and Grand Prix Editor of F1 Racing magazine.

In dramatic fashion and nearly identical to last year’s season finale in Brazil, Lewis won the 2008 title by a single championship point. Coming into the race, Lewis led Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa by seven championship points. While Massa needed to win the race, Lewis only needed to finish fifth place or better. The day began with a heavy but short rain shower just seconds before the start of the race, which sent teams scrambling to put grooved rain tires on their cars.

Brazilian driver Massa started the race from the pole position, while Hamilton began in fourth place. Everything seemed well within hand for Hamilton, who shifted between fourth and fifth place throughout the race. However rain began to fall again during the last handful of laps, which threw things into chaos. After a scrum of pit stops Sebastian Vettel of the Scuderia Toro Rosso team ended up just behind Hamilton in sixth place. Amazingly Vettel pressed on, passing Hamilton and impacting the championship by pushing him back to sixth place and out of title contention.

On the final lap Massa took his Ferrari across the finish line to take the race victory and the world title. Knowing that Hamilton was in sixth place and too far back to over take Vettel, Ferrari, Massa and all of Brazil celebrated his race victory and championship title victory. But on the very last turn, Timo Glock of the Toyota team, who did not change to rain tires could not maintain pace and fell behind Hamilton giving him the title back.

Sadly many U.S. fans missed this season finale, which was one of the most exciting season ending races in all of motorsports history. Formula One last year had no Grand Prix races in the U.S. Most races including the Indianapolis 500, are in the Indy Car Series, although as recently as 2007, the United States Grand Prix was run as a Formula One race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (and incidentally, won by Hamilton).

Similar to college basketball and NASCAR racing in North Carolina, Formula One racing in England is a near obsession. This in addition to the enormous pressure from Formula One sponsors can prove to be too much for some drivers. Add to this, being the first black Formula One driver is another level gravity in itself. Just as people are fascinated with Tiger Woods, many are fascinated and intrigued by Hamilton’s racial profile. However, if Hamilton continues to perform as he has, the focus will change, especially now that he is a world champion. And in the long run, the only question about race will be how many will he win.

That only makes you want the 2009 season to start sooner. Just hang on, because green flags will be dropping before you know it.

Larry Cornwell is a freelance automotive journalist based in Charlotte.

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