Formula 1, Hamilton’s solitude and an uncertain future at Silverstone

SILVERSTONE – He is alone. Again. Alone against everyone, like at the beginning. For Lewis Hamilton the story of his life repeats itself. As if that weren’t enough, he hasn’t won a GP since December 5, 2021: it was Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It must be tough for someone like Lewis Hamilton. For a seven-time world champion. In particular, then, this weekend at Silverstone, which is the home grand prix. Not being able to be the protagonist, stuck in traffic like any commuter motorist. But by now he’s used to it, he’s got an idea. After all, Lewis has always had to come from behind. At home they love and hate him, and it’s best not to investigate the percentages. That’s why you know, Lewis: he’s always been like this since he was in school. Him, a black. With a frail brother, then.

SILVESTONE – We know what happened. He survived. He has found his way, his passion, his interest: engines. In that world he grew up, he had fun, he made mistakes. But one thing, even today at the age of 38, has remained the same: that sort of unshakable candor that represents his frankness and has made him his global strength. Hamilton’s transformation has been positive: he’s gone beyond money, notoriety, sex and the risks of drugs and alcohol, all of those things can be translated simply as “delusions of omnipotence”.

The challenge to a system

He knew how to go further, he knew how to avoid becoming another – immoderate – Tiger Woods (and he would not have been a positive icon), but not even a new Muhammad Ali. He challenged the system, but in his own way. Always going full throttle, in life as well as on the track. At the beginning of his career, and of his life, he had to sort things out in the family, he had to settle the moment of parties and celebrations, selfies with his dogs, etc., so he found the balance.

Lots of battles for rights

Hamilton attacking racists. Hamilton defending the LGBTQIA+ community. Hamilton kneeling wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ T-shirt that reads ‘End Racism’. Who remembers when, at the time of the Ok Corral against Fernando Alonso on the track, fans of the Spaniard wore black face paint and black wigs to mock him in 2008? Or when the Spanish branch of a New York advertising agency set up a website dedicated to “bursting Hamilton’s tires”?.

Hamilton experienced the double standards that the (very white) F1 media used with him. Nevertheless. He has challenged everyone, on the social level, but sportingly he holds the record for grand prix wins (103), the only one – in the 73-year history of Formula 1 – to be in triple figures. He drew Michael Schumacher’s World Cup, and sometimes he thinks back to the season and its finale.

The sporting present, however, is different. In 2022 he experienced his first winless season in F1. He is experiencing the worst moment that an athlete, a sportsman, can go through: not being competitive because of the car. And it doesn’t look like Mercedes can fix that any time soon. But, all in all, he didn’t make a fuss, though his gentle, non-boisterous personality should never be mistaken for cowardice. No one, in the history of F1, has had the impact of him. He brought in a new audience of fans, pushed for improvement for blacks, women and other minority riders in the sport. He’s gone beyond driving a steering wheel at three hundred an hour. Even if he is alone today, apparently sad and frustrated. Current loneliness can only make him stronger. His real enemy is time: personal time, not the track stopwatch. Will he know, will he be able to slow it down?