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Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Still I surprise
The most topical driver of the past eight years, Lewis Hamilton, has polarised Formula One opinions worldwide. I would even say quite confidently that no other driver has evoked more primal feelings from racing fans in the past decade than the self-styled No.44 HAM.
Many times the debates among ‘serious’ Formula One fans about Lewis Hamilton quickly evoke a rhetoric and emotions of hatred, love, pure adoration, veiled and not-so-veiled racism, unwavering blinkered support, immovable blind resentment, a total dismissing of his massive accomplishments, a complete amplification of the very same said accomplishments, comparisons to the great Ayrton Senna and some comparisons to the not so great drivers also. This list is not exhaustive, but the point is clear.
The self-styled HAM look
What rarely occurs is a reasonably balanced discussion or even an unbiased but irreverent viewpoint from or someone broadly ambivalent to Lewis Hamilton.
I certainly am not positioning this article as either ‘balanced’ or unbiased, simply because I can be neither. I am equally affected by the entire spectrum of emotion Lewis’ brings out in many a debate.
I will however, attempt to examine the reasons why Hamilton has such an impact on the hearts and minds of those interested in Formula One. It is incredible that since Lewis’ debuted in F1, fans, media, team principals, team staff and other drivers (ex and current) are drawn onto the roller coaster of emotion which flows from Lewis’ heart stained sleeves,
At times the assembled quorum for the Hamilton debate demonstrate an almost bi-polar frenzy of opinion – and all in a single weekend!
Who Lewis’ purports to be, what motivates him, his lifestyle and what he represents – are all factors which play on our subconscious minds – no matter how much we protests the absence of these psychological effects.
In short, I will argue, Lewis Hamilton challenges us. He is a pioneer and as such we must reconsider our carefully constructed paradigms – head on – and at times be prepared to reconsider.
1) Lewis The Black Man in a Historically White Sport
Lewis’ race is hardly a secret and it is indisputable he is the first black driver to enter the Euro/British dominated sport of Formula One.
In the 21st century, this pioneering claim may appear amazing, but it is a sobering one too.
Whether Hamilton fully acknowledges this impact, or not, doesn’t change the fact that we all have to consciously, and subconsciously, confront the issues of racial equality and expectation. Stereotypes are habitually confronted when as Hamilton did, a representative breaks a mould.
Does this pioneering act of Lewis’ mean he is held to a higher level of account?
By definition as the first black driver, Lewis faced unprecedented racial issues within the sport.
Following the Hamilton/Alonso divide at McLaren in 2007, in both 2008 and 2009, Lewis was confronted with Alonso supporters sporting ‘blacked-up’ faces at the Spanish GP. No other F1 driver had ever faced such a particular brand of hatred for challenging the fans preferred driver in a way that they could not defend?
As the row escalated, circuit director Ramon Pradera said: “We would like to make a plea to the fans to behave correctly. “No type of offensive behaviour can be tolerated.”
In response to the racist abuse, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, threatened to axe the Spanish Grand Prix from the calendar. An FIA spokesman commented in 2009, “We are aware of the latest incident and will look into the matter further,” adding, “These types of fans are the absolute minority.”
Spanish fans taunt and abuse Hamilton at the Barcelona test, in February, 2008
Yes there had been fans previously expressing ‘anti-driver’ sentiments, some with even hateful intent, but the ‘blacked-up’ faces were about Lewis’ origins, not anything he had allegedly done.
2) Lewis The Celebrity
The 24/7 nature of TV news and the advent of the interweb has created in recent times a cult of celebrity like never before.
Has there been an F1 driver more driven toward the cult of celebrity? Or perhaps more specifically, has there been an F1 driver so at ease with his contemporary celebrities and their way of life before Lewis?
There have been party animals aplenty. James Hunt, Eddie Irvine and Mike Hawthorn to name but a few. However, those lifestyles had an air of superficiality about them, in the sense that those party animals KNEW they were superficial and used their F1 celebrity status to cock a snook at others in their world.
Yet despite the rumours of Hunt’s all night parties with 20 odd airline hostesses, were these drivers ever challenged by the masses that they were failing to deliver their best potential because of this lifestyle?
Hamilton challenges us in how he handles the life of celebrity. He has diverse interests away from the track; be they musical, celebrity friendships, the pampered first class dogs along with general 21st century fame. All of which he manages whilst while maintaining his single minded commitment to winning.
Yet these lifestyle choices are occasionally used as examples of how Hamilton has ‘lost focus’ and cited as reasons for Lewis’ failing to fulfil his true potential.
This lifestyle of Lewis challenges our pre-existing paradigms of what is required to demonstrate top level commitment in a Formula One context.
Is it necessary for a Formula One driver to exude the archetypical attributes of, self sacrificing, maximum personal stability and maximum sacrifice to the cause?.
Is it normal for a driver to be single minded and nigh on robotic in his desire to work with the team, and to race with all removed from clouding this vision? Further, is this what we the fans really want? Sebastian Vettel – 4 times world champion – by and large hides away his private life and reveals little about his real personality, bar his penchant for producing ‘the finger’.
Or this this an image, some would like us to believe is true, or a matter of perception and another challenge which Lewis presents to us?
Can a pseudo celebrity driver be as committed as Juan Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna?
To be continued tomorrow…
Yay, Go Lewis!!
Lewis Hamilton = F1 = Team Lewis #1
Hamilton F1 WDC 4evah!
great article Still, really a good surprise [no pun intended] for those who thought you were going to bash and smash Lewis
Let’s not be so quick to dismiss the bashing part, this was only Pt1, all that might unfold in Pt2.
+1
Very interesting voice represented by these words…this author intrigues me. I hope to read more of his work soon.
Perhaps something explaining to me why it’s OK to like SebVet and how I can become a fan of his w/o feeling like I’m supporting Darth Vader’s cousin?
LOL! That made me laugh!
I’ll get onto the article ASAP Joe. 😉
I think the answer to your question will center around his association with Helmet Marko. Take your feelings of Marko and/or Red Bull away and perhaps you’ll feel a little differently?
(FYI: I have something I am near done on Jensen Button and my take on his career, and a driving style analysis. If this Hamilton 2-parter gets an ok response, I’ll write more.)
You should write it regardless. Plenty of folks read and don’t comment. You have an interesting perspective and a nice style. Keep it coming.
IMO being a pioneer puts you under a level of scrutiny (esp. in this the TMZ generation) that is difficult to fathom. Until it’s normative it will be hard to judge driver achievement just because all analysis will be skewed by the sheer newness of it (if you’re going to be nice about it and give folks the benefit of the doubt). Just wait till a woman gets a proper drive (c’mon Simona) to see what I mean.
Players and haters see reflections of themselves in their hero/villain and the more closely they do the more heated and personal any criticism (in the larger more formal sense) gets taken. In fact, all celebrity works this way so we wind up objectifying that which we venerate or denigrate to the point that many times the actual person (not the celebrity image) has none of the actual characteristics in person that we attribute to their image.
Lewis, more so than any current driver, has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it easy for fans to identify with him(love or hate). Very few ambiguous reactions to Lewis is what I’m trying to say.
Great piece of analysis, thoroughly provoking and entertaining. Can’t wait for part 2.
Good!! 😉
Please do – seriously! I’d love some rhetorical sleight-of-hand that would allow me to breakthrough and love SebVet!
Idk…I’ll wait for your piece to explore these feelings in depth! 😉
As mattpt55 says, you should definitely write/publish it!
Your presence on the rostrum is a welcome addition and the genuine fan’s perspective you bring as a contributor = interesting and worthwhile for “us”/me to consider.
Keep up the great work!!
I reserve any major comments to your article until Pt2 is published.
Just one point of note…..
Re.. The racial abuse in Spain. It also happened again last year as well, but was not heavily publicised. One of the commentators on here, posted a link to an article in, I think it was The Daily Mail of the incident.
But I’m glad that you brought up the issue of race equality. Maybe it will get people to debate whether he his fairly or unfairly treated by some, has something to do with his race.
“Does this pioneering act of Lewis’ mean he is held to a higher level of account?”……..
I wouldn’t call it an ‘act’ this is just as big as Woods winning his first Masters title. But the simple answer to your initial statement, is a resounding yes.
So far it’s been pleasant to read, I await Pt2, before ( that’s if the ‘Mod’ allows me to) give any further opinion that I may or may not have.
Ps…… If this gets past the Mod, I’m neither angry nor am I having a go at anyone.
. The article is not what I expected from you. Winky face. (That’s a compliment)
Just a point on race
Lewis is a mixed race person. If he was racing in an African series he might be considered the first white or ethnic driver there also.
People of mixed race often end up identifying with the part of them that is the minority in the society that they live in. This because they may be treated as different by the majority ethnicity. Lewis in England is treated like a black man. This may be why he identifies as black. If he was raised in Jamaica you might have found that he wrapped himself in white English culture.
He is certainly black enough for racists to vent their vile hate and lots of the people who attack him are no doubt racist. I do feel bad for the people who dislike him for sporting reasons but get labelled with being racist.
Hi Spanners. Thanks for the compliment. About the point on race… It’s true he is mixed race. This two part article ultimately though is about why Lewis evokes such extreme views from fans and haters. There are four big components and two are touched on in part 1 here.
Much of that emotion comes from equal measures about our perception of him as it is about the absolute reality of him. One component of this is us (the fans/media/paddock), through Lewis, needing to confront the racial challenges of a pioneering black man in a white sport. In a similar fashion to what the first black US president has done, and had to confront, and force the US to face. A man whom is also mixed race but in all intents and purposes, like Lewis, he faces the same challenges as a black man, not a white man, and we face them by association. That’s a hard thing to do and inevitably will result in strongly formed opinions.
Ok, am pleasantly surprised.
Good one!
I believe Lewis will challenge the world even more when he starts his serious music career. Which I think he will after F1 – his management must be mouthwatering.
I think celebrity culture is hard to define. There are lots of drivers with distractions, Kimi partying, Alonso/Kimi/Webber with their own … Teams, Sutil freefighting and Button managing drivers and having a restaurant.
But I think 1 and 2 might be related, only ‘after Hamilton’ we saw Pharell, Will.i.am and Rihanna in the pits. I think Pharell is liked by most people (although, I did read something about ‘a room without a roof on an F1 site… Where was that? :-/), but the other 2 also stirr up controversy which reflects on the way people see Hamilton.
the rhiannas, will.i.am’s and pharells in lewis entourage bring up another point about the race issue. it is quite normal for celebrities to attend races and be guests in the paddock. in fact, it is something that is part of the glamour of f1. there have been countless actors, models and musicians over the years, and it never was a problem. yet all of a sudden, when lewis brought “rappers” along (as far as i could remember, only ice-t and lupe fiasco really qualified as a rapper, all others were music producers or singers. the simple fact that they were called rappers tells you a lot about what the issue really was.), he was criticized. all of this while everybody knows and complains that f1 has a problem attrackting new and younger audiences. instead of realizing that lewis along with his celebrity fans was indeed doing f1 a favor by attrackting a new audience, he was told to stop bringing these people, even though nobody could point out what exactly they had done wrong. why can mick jagger, sylvester stalone, sting or leonardo di caprio hang around in the paddock and it is a good thing, but rhianna, pharrel and will.i.am are disturbing race preparations?
we fondly remember the practical jokes played by berger, senna and piquet, are amused by stories about kimi passing out in a hotel lobby or falling of a boat, but when hamilton is caught doing burnouts for some fans it’s a huge problem. and the outrage over his “maybe it is because i’m black” comment was clearly fueled by him pointing out the race issue. it was not a daft comment, it was not an inapropriate joke, it was the reality of someone who is judged differently every day of his life because of the colour of his skin. and those doing the judging then started blaming the victim to make this reality go away. and then there is the notion that he “got everything handed to him” and is “feeling entitled” which, if you know anything about the double speak of racism, is clearly code for “this guy doesn’t belong here”.
lewis problem in all of this is that he tries to fit in and appease the critics, which is something that will not work, because they will never stop judging him differently. he let’s the constant criticism get to him, instead of developing a kimi like attitude of doing what he wants and telling those who don’t like it to go to hell. he should stop apologizing, because in the end, the criticism is about who he is and not about what he does.
“You have to work twice as hard to get half of what they’ve got”…..
Touché my good man/Madame, that was a well thought out and reasoned comment.
“then there is the notion that he “got everything handed to him” and is “feeling entitled” which, if you know anything about the double speak of racism, is clearly code for “this guy doesn’t belong here”.”
I sense you have put a lot of yourself into that comment. I broadly agree with some notions. I do however think Lewis’s celeb / sports star cross over is more apparent than in others. And I don’t think it’s because he’s black, but because he actually does have more of a celeb cross over lifestyle. That’s why I separated the issues.
The question is, is this bad? I don’t know… That’s what the article is about. It’s something we are forced to reconcile.
But I don’t agree with the quoted sentiment above in particular. I think anyone of any colour can fall into the trap of entitlement. I don’t think someone saying the above sentiments you mention of Lewis (or any black sports star) nessecarily makes them racist by default.
In fact, perhaps it may be racist to believe otherwise? Food for thought, that’s all. Thanks for the comment.
racism and discrimination are often times very subtle and take place in ways that provide the one discriminating with deniability. and a huge part of this is coded language.
take the word rapper for example. black musicians are very often called rappers, even if they are singers, executives or producers, especially if they are involved in a scandal or a crime. this is because rapper is a code word that contains several connotations. among them that rap is not “real music”, violence, crime, drugs, a lack of intelligence etc., so you can stereotype a person with one single word, and if someone points it out to you, you can deny it and accuse them of pulling the race card, because you said none of these things explicitly. another example is when a woman is called bossy, same as with minorities being accused of entitlement, it means she doesn’t behave according to the submissive role assigned to her. of course there are bossy woman, but there are also bossy men, yet i have never heard the term used to describe a man, because men are allowed to be bossy, woman are not.
so of course blacks can fall into the trap of feeling entitled just as any other race can, but that is the trick. in the 21st century, you can’t call a black person an uppity negro anymore, so the next best thing to do is calling them arrogant or entitled, it provides you with deniability should anybody accuse you of racism. it doesn’ even have to be a conscious thing. back in the 1920’s, a white person probably really felt that a black person was uppity if he or she didn’t behave as submissive as expected, today they feel they are arrogant or entitled. i never got the sense of entitlement from lewis interviews that he is accused of. quite to the contrary, especially in the beginning of his f1 career he seemed to be a very humble and shy person. yet from the first season onwards, he and his father were accused of being arrogant, feeling entitled and getting everything handed to them. especially the last thing is laughable, given that they come from a lower middle class background and the fact that hamilton senior worked two jobs to finance is sons career. now of course i know neither of them personally, and so of course there is a chance that both of them are self entitled arrogant pricks. what i do know though is that there is an established pattern of racial code words that fits exactly with how hamilton is often criticized and that black people more often than not are held to a different standard than white people. so, no, not everybody that calls lewis arrogant or entitled is racist by default, but the chance that race plays a role in his assessment is pretty high.
by the way, accusing a person who points out patterns of racism of reversed racism is a very popular trick to deflect blame. food for though ;). and thanks for the reply.
last but not least, here is a funny video that shows how racial code works
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/9y5s8l/newt-gingrich-s-poverty-code
I’ve always been intrigued by the use of the word nigger, as used by certain black groups as a brotherhood call to others….
“by the way, accusing a person who points out patterns of racism of reversed racism is a very popular trick to deflect blame.”
I was not accusing anyone of anything. I suggested it maybe racist to think that the default position of all whites is racist in and of itself. And there is no “reverse racism”. There is just racism in it can flow both ways.
And I agree that conciously and/or subconsciously, race plays a part in our additional love/hate of Lewis beyond what the archetypical driver enjoys/suffers. That’s why I wrote it as point 1 of 4. The other two points yet to come…
Just look at us over here in the States to see racism is alive and well (including institutional racism). At least five unarmed young black men have been executed by police across the USA during the month of August alone!
The racist cultural marxists who (ironically) attack and bully Lewis are the worst, however, because they can operate from anywhere and it’s almost impossible to hold them to account.
Even if you do succeed in beating-down one of them, it’s like whack-a-mole, however, and (via the magic of the Internetz) another one just takes their place.
We must not hesitate to denounce those F1 “fans” (and pundits/commentators/media/insiders) who cloak their racist dislike of Lewis in pseudo-objective “criticism”…peace! ☮☻☯☺
“We must not hesitate to denounce those F1 “fans” (and pundits/commentators/media/insiders) who cloak their racist dislike of Lewis in pseudo-objective “criticism”…peace! ☮☻☯”
Actually I think we should hesitate. Yes we should remain vigilant on racism but we should hesitate before we assume it and then accuse someone of it, especially if it’s based on your perception of “cloaked racism”.
The word racist is a very powerful word and shouldn’t be misused. My pet hate is it’s misuse and subjugation of someone who dates critique another of a different race.
My modus operandi has always been, remain hyper vigilant on racism. Wait a little until action to be sure of motivations and intent and to allowed for idiocy in language, then if racist come down like a ton of bricks.
The opportunity won’t pass. A racist will still be a racist another day. But you save subjugating others unnessecarily because if you do get it wrong, racism wins again, just in another way.
Im convince that polarization of Lewis is entirely due to him being Black.All things being equal all criticism and attacks are not racial,but when you exclude the media culture to take down celebrities,the excessive attacks and the magnification of everything Lewis does and says point to Racial bias ,conscious and unconscious.
What betrays those racial biases are the fact that all the criticisms are some variation of the stero type that Black people Lewis being black, are less intelligent,less refined,easily and distracted ,and unable to handle wealth and fame without self destructing.
That explain the over reaction when a few Black celebrity shows up,the constant talk of intelligence,being emotional which in terms of sport and performance is a negative jibe. Aggressive tire eater while BUTTON was smooth ,and now we hearing talk of Rosberge smoothness. constant talk of Lewis fragility ,constant talk of Lewiss maturity,after 8yrs in f1 they cant seem to see beyond his race
The most vivid example of this racial bias is how the F1 establishment made up of older white male,not of the exgen generation,narrates Lewis speed .
They fail to, or are un willing to accept and recognize that lewiss speed is a Function of his INTELLIGENCE and not some cro magnom brute force reflex,the word Im looking for is not coming but I think you get point.
Lets not forget that the season started off with the big question being if the the young Blackman will be able to adapt to this new complicated F1.Is he capable of saving his tires and saving fuel at the same time.strangely enough those questions were not asked about Rooki Magnusen.but he is a young white guy…so.
Martin Brundle then back Rosberge for the championship ,on the basis that its going to be a THINKING MAN championship…Apparently Lewis being world champion and beating Rosberge the year before meant nothing.but Implication was clear…..and seemed to be based solely on racial steroe type because there are no examples to illustrate Rosberge superior intellect
here is an example of John Watson almost impishly and wickedly saying Lewis is fragile
http://fiftybuckss.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/the-f1-show-1st-august/
“Im convince that polarization of Lewis is entirely due to him being Black.All things being equal all criticism and attacks are not racial,but when you exclude the media culture to take down celebrities,the excessive attacks and the magnification of everything Lewis does and says point to Racial bias ,conscious and unconscious. “
In tomorrow’s article, you may agree with a further two points that combine to create the excessive love/hate beyond what most drivers enjoy/suffer. Today we discussed Race and Celeb. You surmise above that the excess must be race. There maybe be another two reasons why it’s more excessive with Lewis. I don’t deny race isn’t one aspect we have to reconcile, but I do deny it is all of it for all people or even some of it for some ppl. Part 2 of this article is integral to Part 1 in answering why the fervour of his lovers and haters can even makes ISIS shiver at their fanaticism.
Your words suggest a unique and powerful articulacy and you do well to translate your passion into powerful printed expression & call to action.
I salute you, and will be keeping my eye out for more of your comments in the future…
“Lewis speed is a function of his intelligence and not some magnum brute force reflex..”
There are a plethora of possibilities for Lewis’ speed. Insisting it is either/or the above is disingenuous….
Further, there is no basis for this opinion… No directly sourced information from those who have worked daily with Lewis… articulate or not… Lewis makes too many unintelligent choices to be credited as other….
Mod – Abusive posts are moderated
Sorry but Lewis is no world beater a la Senna, Prost, Schumacher…. He is not whipping Rosberg… Didn’t whip Button over 3 years… (And Jenson doesn’t make anyone’s top 3 drivers in the current crop)
He’s overrated by the Hamfosi…. IMHO of course….
In fact he is far from the complete F1 driver
Hammer Time !
GO, 44 !
Considering the subject matter, I did wonder how people would respond to you as the author – the respect shown is one of the main reasons why this unique site has a community to be proud of.
What I have found is to actually criticise a writer’s piece is remarkably easy – whereas to offer your thoughts for public consumption can be intimidating initially.
Well done, and I hope the “Voice of the fans” features are encouraging others.
The Jackal
Thanks Carlo. It’s true what you say about the ease of critiquing and the difficulty in contributing. But in time you’ll get to know me and one thing I do, other than relentlessly tease, is I don’t back off from is a challenge.
I challenged myself to truly look into myself and to put on paper my veiws of this topical driver. That led me to ponder why he could evoke such intensity from me and others. I asked why and this article, plus tomorrow’s part 2, are the reasons I personally think in combination create this intensity surrounding Lewis.
I love a challenge. There isn’t a corner fast enough that I wouldn’t at least try good and proper. Metaphorically and literally. The rest will be what it will be. 😀
Some are surprised, no doubt, but if you check the archives I did say that I had a “different take” on Hamilton and Senna. After that, assumptions filled the vacuum until publishing. Like I said, I’m a horrible tease sometimes.
That was a great read. Really looking forward to part two. Thanks 🙂
As a black man myself who only started following F1 in 2007 when Lewis came on the scene because he is such an exciting and entertaining driver , I read this article and I thought you have really hit the nail on the head in so may ways ! It was a great article . You known sometimes I read the criticism directed against Hamilton and I despair . As a people we have a long way to go! All the statements questioning Lewis’ maturity, intelligence ,girlfriend, lifestyle, dog etc etc are encoded racial bias pure and simple. Far less accomplished drivers are criticised in the same way as Lewis.
I agree also that Hamilton’s speed is a function of his intelligence because it shows that he can extract the maximum performance from the same car as say Rosberg over the course of the race. But of course this deserves no credit. The pundits big up Rosberg and inferior driver in comparison because he can speak 7 languages, as if that is the new prerequisite for an F1 driver! lol.
In fact I cannot believe the bias against Lewis especially by some British ex racing drivers. They were practically wetting themselves recently when Rosberg beat Lewis in the last Brazil GP and bigging him up whilst conveniently forgetting that this was Rosbergs’ his first win since Germany almost half a year ago. The last 5 races IN A ROW have been won by Lewis.
I agree with the commentator who said Lewis tries hard to be liked and inoffensive but I disagree that he should be more like Kimi who does not care what anyone thinks about him. If Lewis even attempted to behave like Kimi there would be a campaign to get him out of F1 as a bad influence. I have no doubt about that.
The bias / hatred towards Hamilton borders on irrational.Lets take an analogy of a university professor choosing between 2 candidates for 1 university place. The candidates provide you their qualifications. One candidate has 5 A level A stars . The other candidate has 10 A level A stars .Purely on academic qualifications which candidate would you choose? The candidate with 10 A levels of course. But when the candidate with most qualifications is mixed race Lewis Hamilton things are not straightforward or rational.