Last Updated on June 28 2015, 2:40 pm
Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Fortis
Rarely do we get to see or hear what charitable work Formula One drivers do in their spare time. It is a part of their life that’s rarely, if ever, covered by mainstream media. Last night current World Champion Lewis Hamilton appeared on popular BBC talk show, the Graham Norton Show. During the broadcast he revealed that earlier in the week he was made ambassador for the Invictus Games by Prince Harry.
The Invictus Games was first hosted on in 2014 from September 10th to 14th in London. It is dedicated to severely wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 400 personnels from 13 different countries come together to participate in various sporting events under the banner “I Am“.
Hamilton spoke about upon his appointment, of his visit Tedworth House to meet with some of the wounded veterans and to celebrate being the games first official ambassador. Hamilton also commented on how injured servicemen and women are using sport as a form of therapy to overcome their current situation and while visiting he played a game of wheelchair basketball.
One former Royal Navy marine engineer AJ Pingram comented, “He seemed genuinely interested in how we’re using sport as part of our recovery process and he definitely gave us a run for our money during the wheelchair basketball match.”
Being disabled or severely wounded does not mean life is over for these men and women, it does not mean that they are no longer able to participate in the sport they love, just asked ex Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi.
The Italian lost both legs after an horrendous crash in 2001 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz on 15 September. In 2003, Zanardi was racing again, with the aid of hand-operated brake and accelerator controls. He ceremonially drove thirteen laps at the Lausitzring, having crashed 13 laps before the end in 2001. He lapped fast enough that had he been qualifying for the race that weekend, he would have been fifth. It persuaded him that a race return was something to pursue.
He also took up hand cycling and went on to win double gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
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Strange that. You’d expect coverage is part of the goal to make him ambassador. But it’s all about the queen and ancient protocols, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Scherzinger and oh Warwick being baffled by Lewis’ request to not drive at the test and hang out with Pharell.
Private donations like Schumi did should remain private but ambassador says it all.
Before reading this, did you know what the Invictus game were and what it was aimed at?
No, so you did the right thing Fortis. It’s just as you write in the article: we don’t know about most charity work from F1 drivers. ‘Keeping the vodka industry alive’ comes to mind… ( or the gold industry… Wink nudge). So to get also this news via TJ13 is good, but it reflects on all of us as customers of news who apparantly (?) are only triggerd by Celebs and best not anything else…
But you turned the article into a something it was not meant for. This is about him supporting a very good cause. But instead you’re talking about the Kardashian’s, his ex, the Queen or Pharell Williams. Next time you see a Lotus, look whose name is on the engine cover.
So would it have been better had he just donated money like Schumi did without anyone knowing about it? How does that help to build the image of the cause?
‘A well done Lewis’ would’ve been ok, but I guess there’s always criticism in everything he does, whether it’s good or bad.
As for Warwick’s comment, why was he not baffled when he missed the test in Spain? Why is he not baffled by the absence of Kimi or Seb?
No Fortis, I’m merely critisizing the press and iTS consumers in general. I admire Hamilton for his aspirations and would be green with envy if he becomes succesful In music as well.
I apologise to you then. Guess I misinterpreted your comment.
Thanks and well done, I do like your articles.
A good cause, I’m glad someone from F1 has being invited to become an ambassador. To be fair though I’m left wondering why Lewis isn’t at Goodward this weekend. An event for the fans he apparently loves so much, yet who’s turning up for Mercedes? Nico Rosberg.
It’s sometimes very tough not to see camp Hamilton as a big PR machine that is leading certain parts of the Motorsport media a merry bloody dance.
It’s Nico’s birthday today, that could be a reason why he was there, more exposure for him.
All the drivers love the FOS event, but not all of them turn up, so what’s the big deal? Are they suppose to be at every event? By them not attending, will it decrease the number of people who turn up?
Not all drivers turn up because its a British event full of British motosport fans. That’s one reason why Jenson has attended time and time again. Yet this week we’ll hear Lewis saying how much he loves the fans and how this is his favourite race (apart from the other four tracks he claims are his favourite as well).
So most drivers don’t turn up because it’s a British event? That’s just utter nonsense. This is a motorsport event showcasing vintage and modern cars from all over the world, which also features drivers from all the world as well.
Which driver does not love participating in their home Grand Prix?
The younger Hamilton is racing this weekend at the BTCC event.
http://www.btcc.net/2015/06/27/nic-hamilton-reflects-on-his-first-day-in-the-btcc/
Lewis has been involved in charity work since he first raced in F1. He promotes the charities to get others involved, by donating time or money. It’s all very well hearing rumours that XX famous person has donated £lots to a charity anonymously – but there’s seldom any proof of the amount actually given.
https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/lewis-hamilton
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/11206617/Lewis-Hamilton-plans-for-his-future-on-the-track-with-Mercedes-and-off-it-with-charity-work.html
http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/11/lewis-hamilton-im-driven-to-educate-the-worlds-poorest-4181436/
http://www.totalgiving.co.uk/charity/lewis-hamilton-foundation
http://www.keech.org.uk/news/latest_news/news_pages/lewis_hamilton_foundation_makes_donation
…maybe Lewis found spending time with recovering service men and women (all disabled in the line of duty on our behalf, so we can have freedoms such as watching a motor race on a Sunday afternoon), and using his profile to raise awareness of a charitable cause, to be more fulfilling than going to Goodwood again, and also letting Nico have the limelight on his birthday and have some fun with the fans.
BTW, nice to see some good news, Fortis.
: )
Fortis, I really cringe at most or your commentaries to others articles, but am becoming a fan of your TJ13 articles. kudos and keep up the good work!!!! seriously!!
off topic, but so many want to see such great wheel to wheel racing, passes and all that.
well, Indycar racing has some of the most stupid crap going on, BUT, if one did not enjoy the Fontana Oval Race with 3 rows of 4 wide or 2 rows of 5 wide at over 210MPH ave going into the last few laps, I suggest most on this site are rather not so terribly actual and true race fans… just my opinion, of course – having been an F1 junckie since 1962…
rich
Good on Lewis, i’m not a massive fan of him but least with his celebrity status he has brought something to the attention of the public that not many people would’ve known about, myself included. The whole point of the exercise is to get people to donate to the cause, and how can people donate if idols, like Ham, don’t bring it to the foreground
It’s a shame that the same governments for whom these naive soldiers fight, kill and are maimed don’t provide sufficient after-action care and disability support to allow the servicemen to live productive, fulfilling lives w/o their having to shill for private donations.
It’s quite shameful, actually.
Now we know. Lewis has been enjoying Glastonbury over the weekend.