Son of Trinis Becomes 1st Black F-1 Driver

[Yeo]

Is there any sport Trinis cannot excel at? Such a small pair of islands yet so much talent.

The latest addition is Lewis Hamilton, son of two Trinbagonians who will become the first black Formula 1 racing driver in 56 years.

Lewis Hamilton, billed as Formula One's Tiger Woods, will become the first black racing driver in 56 years of the world's most-watched motor sport.

The 21-year-old Englishman, of West Indian ancestry, will race for McLaren-Mercedes in 2007 alongside world champion Fernando Alonso, the Woking, England-based team said Friday. He'll make his debut in Melbourne on March 18.

"It's a dream come true," Hamilton said in a team statement. "To be racing in Formula 1 with McLaren has been the ultimate goal for me since I was very young."

Hamilton's talent means he's on course to make as big an impact in motor sport as Woods has done in golf, said Rob Pope, a director of brandRapport, a U.K. sports marketing company. Hamilton won Formula One feeder series GP2 on Sept. 10, his third championship success in four years.

"He'll be Formula One's Tiger Woods, no question," Pope said in a phone interview. "He'll become his own brand, very attractive for sponsors."

Woods, the No. 1-ranked golfer, is the top-earning athlete thanks to endorsement contracts with the likes of Nike Inc., American Express Co. and Rolex Group.

Formula One, managed by billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, estimates it has an average 150 million television viewers per race. ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services company and the world's largest chipmaker Intel Corp. are among companies to sponsor teams, seven of which are backed by carmakers including Toyota Motor Corp.

The series started in 1950 as an elite circuit with a Thai prince and Spanish marquis among the early competitors. Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver in Formula One last year -- although it hasn't had one of African or Caribbean descent like Hamilton.

In the 59-year-old Nascar series in the U.S., Wendell Scott is the only black driver to have won a major race, a 1963 event in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hamilton's father, the son of immigrants from Trinidad & Tobago, used to drive him to kart races from age 8. A year later, Hamilton approached McLaren manager Ron Dennis at an awards dinner and told him he wanted to become Formula One champion with the team.

Dennis "wrote in my autograph book: `Try me in nine years,"' Hamilton told the Observer newspaper May 23. "But two or three years later he called me."

Hamilton, from Tewin, southern England, has been contracted to McLaren, Formula One's second-most successful team, since 1998 and has "gone through a careful process of turning him into a Grand Prix driver," Dennis said in an interview last year, adding his color was "irrelevant" to the team.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz unit owns 40 percent of the team.

To be sure, companies will wait see how Hamilton performs in his Formula One season before rushing to offer him endorsement contracts, said Shaun Whatling, a director of Redmandarin Ltd., a London-based sponsorship consultant. India's Karthikeyan failed to secure a drive this season after finishing outside the top-10 places in all but one race as a rookie for the Jordan team last year.

"If Lewis's performance can justify his reputation, the sky is the limit," Whatling said.
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[MG Man]

not too sure about the Tiger Woods comparison...............I think that's premature
Tiger is at the top of the game
Youthman here still wet behind the ears
So many new F1 up and comers are rated highly, only to lead illustrious 'also-ran' careers
I think Fred is the only 'hotshot' that lived up to the early hype
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I know it's so, for I told me so

[Plex]

i agree its to early to be saying tiger woods comparsion but this is good to see..

he is young and has plenty racing years to prove who he is..i wish him all the best..

[wagonrunner]

also keeping in mind, when tiger makes a mistake. it isn't one that is career or life-threatening.
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I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With Unarmed Persons


Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

[Plex]

true, Tiger has set a legend in golf already..

[NarendZORCE]

We have to meet and interview this guy...
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[Zandolie]

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