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Lewis Hamilton: A Tale Of A Father And His Son
In amongst all the drama that made Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Championship winning performance in Brazil so epic… The rain at the start and end of the race; The samba drums being played in the stands; Timo Glock and his dry tyres; Nicole Scherzinger dancing in the pits in an orange dress… the one thing that really stood out for me was the fact that Anthony Williams was the one person closest to his son in the immediate aftermath of his victory.
Hamilton's path to victory began aged just six, when his father bought him a go-kart for Christmas. The driver gives much of the credit to his father, who to support his son's burgeoning racing talent selflessly worked three jobs while still finding time to attend all his races.
By the age of ten Lewis had won his first British Kart Championship. He cheekily strode over to McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at an awards dinner and mentioned he would one day like to drive for his team.
When a journalist went to meet Hamilton at a kart track he asked someone where he could find him. "He's the only black kid here and he'll be about three laps ahead of everyone else," they said.
Hamilton was 12 at the time. When asked where he got his talent from the answer suggested divine intervention. "I don't know why I'm so quick. When I come to a corner the answer just comes. I take what the answer says and it makes me take it as quickly as possible."
In Britain such a public father-son bond is rare and touching. The only other black man who has caught the national imagination as a father-figure is Neville Lawrence - and his child had to be murdered for that to come about.
In spite of all the obstacles he has faced and overcome so far, Hamilton has managed to remain positive. Thanks, in part at least, to his father Anthony's guiding influence and the support of his loving family. "My story is not about luck or a fairy tale," he has explained. "It is about hard work, about my family's sacrifices and determination, my dad's huge support for me and many other people's belief and kindness."
That strength, manifested in a clear-headed resolve not only to succeed, but to succeed in the right way, has fuelled Hamilton's astonishing career from karts to Formula One. Lewis knows that without his family's unstinting support and his father's drive - and remorseless attention to detail - he would not have made it to the highest echelon. Anthony, after all, supported his son's fledgling racing dreams by doing a full day's work as a computer manager for British Rail and then an evening of erecting For Sale signs for a local estate agent - and, in any other spare time he could find, booking double-glazing appointments for another friend's business.
Hamilton also learned to listen and appreciate, to work on his own improvements and to discover his heroes. He found too that he could always turn disaster, or near-disaster, into success. He learnt never to accept defeat, to be daring on the track and to believe in his talent and work to hone it.
That deep self-belief enabled him to produce the racing that has lifted spectators out of their seats all over the world. As a boy, in his earliest karting days, his father Anthony stood at the braking points for key corners and indicated where Lewis was to hit the pedal. Always, always, it was later than for anyone else. Of course he crashed, but once he had learnt how, Lewis was able to drive faster than anyone around him and refine his talent.
This dedication, of father for son and son for family, energised them to unparalleled success on the rise through the ranks. The driver in the canary yellow helmet, whose father did everything, was noted and remembered. Triumphs led to titles and titles to awards. And Lewis, throughout it all, drew his energy from the home he thinks of as his 'power station', where he can shut out the negatives and revive his system.
This year he will be restricted to fewer visits to recharge on positive energy, having become a Swiss resident. He has, however, learned how to cope in Formula One and, in Geneva, found a place that is natural, surrounded by the beauty of lake and mountains, and populated by calm people who make no demands. That serenity is a new source of the positive vibes he needs as he sets about his business - to win, to achieve his dream and to delight his family.
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