Lewis Hamilton Caught in F1 Political Storm

Lewis Hamilton and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussy Cat Doll

Louis Egbe Mbua

British Formula One hero Lewis Hamilton appears to be losing his appetite for high-octane high- speed pursuits. According to London’s Evening Standard, Hamilton is unhappy with the political wrangling of the Formula One bosses who appear to put politics before car driving. Although Hamilton claims that this does not affect his driving, it seems these political infightings are adversely affecting his driving performance on the track.

From the very beginning he has been subjected to shameless racism during the Spanish Grand Prix for the last two years. This may not have seemed important at the time but for a man of 22, at the time, this may have had profoundly cumulative long term psychological effect on his work.

Young people are normally prone to a fall of self-esteem and erosion of self-confidence when subjected to racial, verbal and physical abuse. Last week’s racist Spanish fans of the motor sport again re-ignited their naked racist taunts and caricature of Hamilton, as a Black man or a man of African descent, while the entire world took little steps to punish such disgraceful behaviour against a young man who is a role model for the entire world; and who has contributed so much in Motor sport.

Fans of Hamilton and the British government must protect their own role models; yet nothing has been done so far. The Formula One Tycoon, Bernie Eccleston, has sat tight-lipped; so too has been FIA President, Max Mosely. The entire sports community has an obligation to react strongly against Spain in other areas of sports. It should be recalled that the same racial abuse has been thrown at Cameroon’s indomitable Lion of Barcelona, Eto’o Fils Samuel. One begins to wonder whether Spain is now turning again into a fascist state as it were during the era of Dictator General Francisco Franco.

When a person engaging in such a profession of sports that requires high levels of concentration, is continuously insulted, it is clear that he would lose his concentration during an engagement or will lose appetite for the profession he loves. This, it appears, is affecting Hamilton’s position. In last week’s Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton arrived a distant ninth to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Nicole Sherzinger, who was clearly not amused. Furthermore, the F1 Champion has accumulated a mere 9 points, and 31 places behind Jenson Button who has now established himself as the leader of F1 for this season.

It is apparent that, save the racial psychological warfare waged against Hamilton, there are also political under-currents that are threatening to pull the rug under the champion. In the Australian Grand Prix in the beginning of the Formula One Season at Liargate, the Champion was inexplicably disqualified after coming First for “misleading” the Stewards. What this exactly entails is unclear. However, it seems Hamilton merely told the Stewards what his McLaren team managers advised him to say.

He is not an engineer nor is he a social scientist to know whether what he is being advised to say is true or untrue. On the other hand, whatever is meant by “misleading”, he came first and there is no reason to disqualify him. The culprits to have been punished are his managers and not him. He never broke any rules in the tracks. As a result, linking political clashes by bosses with a man’s achievement is entirely wrong. Hamilton should be re-instated and awarded his full points by Formula One as anything short is tantamount to cheating.

Last Season McLaren, Hamilton’s sponsor, was fined £65 million for “spying” on other manufacturers. What exactly constitutes spying in Formula One is anybody’s guess. Moreover, it looks like these controversies are only surfacing since the meteoric emergence of and spectacular successes on track by Hamilton. The conjecture, therefore, may be that Hamilton has threatened the White only Officialdom of Motor sport; and as a consequence, they have been thrown off balance; and now looking for excuses to hamper the progress of the F1 Superstar.

Hamilton yesterday described these political shenanigans as affecting his life and decried his disillusionment of Formula One; and that he is now in wrongful “imprisonment” of himself: a parlance for being captured prisoner of his own mammoth successes in track. The Champion should take heart and ride this storm; for that is what a champion is made of. A true champion is a fighter both in the ring and outside the ring. He should carefully study the rise and fall; and fall and rise; and rise of Mohammad Ali who possessed a similar monumental talent in boxing. He became the World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion at a similar age of 22 in a spectacular and surprise Victory in 1964. He was later caught up in a political storm almost certainly orchestrated by those who wanted to see him destroyed. He was imprisoned over his refusal, as a matter of principle, to fight in Vietnam. He came out and regained the title twice until his before his retirement. Hamilton may not be in a physical prison as was the case with Ali, but as a Black man, he must face these obstacles and overcome his imprisonment with more spectacular come backs.