F1 season comes to a close Sunday at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi with two drivers; Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen all in contention for the world title.
The two are tied on 369.5 points apiece heading into this much anticipated duel.
The last time two drivers were tied on points ahead of the final race of the season in 1974 both Max and Hamilton were not yet born.
Deborah Auko, a sports enthusiast and F1 freak is rooting for Hamilton to win, she is urging everybody else to do the same, here’s why…
Anthony Hamilton had no Idea what to do with his son, when the mother brought him to stay with him…the boy was only 6 years old.
Anthony had married a white woman, Carmen Laberlestier with whom this child had been born but they divorced soon after,and he left the child with the mother.
Carmen moved on with a different man,who insisted the boy be returned to his father.
That’s how Anthony ended up back with his son..who we have come to know as Lewis Hamilton.
To keep the boy busy, he bought a radio controlled car where adults would line up and remotely race ..he noticed his son on very few attempts beat all the adults,over and over again…and realized the son had extraordinary motor abilities.
He bought his son a second hand karting car at the age of 7 which needed a lot of work to function.
Only white kids at this time were going for Karting because buying,hiring or even maintaining a karting car is very expensive and most black people could not afford it.
When they first showed up for the karting race, white people frowned at them..and the boy was abit shy to find himself in unfamiliar ground.
Read: F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton Reveals Long Battle With Poor Health After Contracting Coronavirus
While other kids drove new Karting cars,Anthony Hamilton kept assembling his son’s car from scrap metal he was collecting in garages,buying parts here and there for fixing over the weekend.
And even with these make do car, it was obvious Lewis Hamilton,an 8 year old was better than older kids using superior cars and who had been Karting as hobbies for years.
To keep up with the expenses of his son’s passion,Anthony Lewis had to take four jobs.
Lets stop there for a moment.
Four Jobs.
They were the first and only black people in that track and his son won.
Every.Damn.Time.
At the age of 10 one day,his son met the Mclaren boss Tim Ron Dennis,Anthony had bought tickets to the British Grand Prix and Dennis was observing the kids who were competing for the junior races.
Little Lewis Hamilton approached Dennis and said
‘Hi I am Lewis Hamilton my dream is to drive for you,for Mclaren’, ‘Oh..ok,Call me in 9 years, Maybe we can work something out.’
Lewis Hamilton worked so hard that Mclaren signed him up as an 11 year old to the Mclaren driver development program,then tried him in their junior team.
Lewis won the F3 championships,the GP 2 championship and nothing could stand before him in the F1.
His first Formula 1 race was with Mclaren in 2007,He was confident and corky and cruised past most to end third and on the podium on his first ever F1 race and lost the championship by 1 point,but won his first championship the next year in 2008.
Lewis Hamilton raced for Formula 1 as the FIRST black person,and the youngest ever,and has gone ahead and won 7 championships even beating Legend Michael Schumacher’s record.
In 2013 Lewis signed a contract with Mercedes and has never looked back.
Lewis has won so much to a point it became boring until a boy called Max Verstappen (Redbull) showed up and brought the racing excitement back.
Max has been leading the championship this year as Lewis struggles with a slower car.
Last three races, Mercedes changed their engine and Lewis has won bringing him on the same points as Max for the championship.
Read Also: Lewis Hamilton Suffers Racial Tirade After Controversial Win
The LAST race of the season is tomorrow and both Max and Hamilton are on the same points which means whoever wins tomorrow takes the championship.
There has been bitter rivalry between Hamilton and Max Verstappen – I have lived to see white crowds boo Hamilton whenever he wins and go frantic whenever Max wins to the point,black stars now attend the Grand Prix to support Hamilton.
I am personally a Ferrari supporter but when push comes to shove and my team has no stakes…I am down with a brother.
One thing I love Lewis for,is how he recognizes what being a minority in a white space means and never misses a chance to educate his audience.
This has earned him admirers and haters as well.
There was this time he said;
“It would be nice to see more black people in the crowd, the crowd is still so white.”
It touched us so much, we had to save and attend a grand prix live in 2019.
If there is one thing you must do tomorrow…you must sit down and watch the last race of Formula 1, and you MUST support Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes for the race,for the story behind this boy,for breaking the ceiling,for not only putting a black face in the sport but also thriving.
This is an order.
If you do not understand the sport just follow his car and pray he wins,I have also added some of his thoughts on the comment section so you support him for his message.
Tomorrow at 4PM Kenyan time. Supersport Motorsport F1.
SPORTING THIS WEEKEND IS ABOUT LEWIS.
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