CATEGORY:SPORTS(CAR RACING)
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By Wallace J.A.
Inside Grenada correspondent
Tuesday November 28,2006


LEWIS HAMILTON, a 21-year-old black man from England, has made history by being the first ever black driver to be signed up to compete in Formula 1 (F1) – a world famous premier car-racing event.

Hamilton’s grandfather was a Grenadian who migrated to England during the 1950s. Hamilton will be driving a McLaren-Mercedes in next year's Formula One world championship. He will be making his race debut at the Australian Grand Prix on March 18, 2007.

International car racing has always been viewed as a white-man’s sport, and the entry of a black person onto the F1 stage will undoubtedly have tremendous marketing potential. Hamilton is already being compared to other famous black sportsmen who were able to make a name for themselves, breaking racial/ethnic barriers in the process and paving the way for others from the same ethnicity to follow.

Harrison’s accomplishment rivals the achievements of Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson, Viv Anderson, Roland Butcher, Paul Ince (the first black player to captain the England football team) and Tiger Woods - all part of social, as well as sporting, history.

While McLaren-Mercedes boss, Ron Dennis, acknowledges the fact that Hamilton can have tremendous marketing potential, he does not want people to focus on the youngster’s colour but on the fact that the he has tremendous talent which has earned him his selection onto the F1 circuit.

The McLaren-Mercedes boss stated that he has been following Hamilton’s progress over the past ten years. As a 10-year-old, Hamilton had approached him (Ron Dennis) back in 1995, asking him for his autograph and telling him about his dream to get into car racing. A couple years later, Hamilton was signed up to the McLaren development program. Since then, he has won the British Formula Renault series in 2003, the Formula 3 Euro-series in 2005 and the Grand Prix 2 title this year.

Lewis Hamilton has been signed up to drive alongside the twice world champion, Fernando Alonso – the youngest double champion in history - in the 2007 McLaren-Mercedes formula one line-up. Ron Dennis believes that having such a young and strong driver in the team (Fernando Alonso) will give Hamilton time to develop further and blossom. He does not rule out the expectation of Hamilton winning later on in the season next year, providing that he has a strong car.