Today we start our look at this year's Sports Personality Of The Year Awards (SPOTY).
We will be looking at seven of the main ten candidates in details.
Today we take a look at long jumper Greg Rutherford & Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.
GREG RUTHERFORD
Gregory James "Greg" Rutherford, MBE track and field athlete who specialises in
long jump. He represents Great Britain at the Olympics, World and European
Championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games.
Rutherford won the long jump gold medal at the 2012 Summer
Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 European Athletics Championships and
2015 World Athletics Championships, and topped the 2015 IAAF Diamond League
rankings in the event. From 4 September 2015, when his Diamond League victory
was confirmed with a fourth event win in Zürich, Rutherford held every
available elite outdoor title, including his national title. Rutherford is the
current British record holder for this event with his personal best of 8.51m.
Early life
Rutherford grew up in Bletchley, Milton Keynes where he
attended Two Mile Ash Primary School and went on to Denbigh School. He played
several sports as a youth including football, rugby and badminton. He had
trials with Premier League football club Aston Villa at the age of 14 before
deciding to pursue a career in athletics. his grandfather also played for
Arsenal.
Career
2005–2007
Rutherford became the youngest ever winner of the long jump
event at the AAA Championships in 2005, aged 18. where he finished 8th. He won
the AAA championships again that year with a jump of 8.26 m. On 8 August 2006,
he won the silver medal in the long jump at the European Athletics
Championships in Gothenburg with a jump of 8.13 m.
Rutherford missed much of the 2007 season due to a
succession of injury problems, including an ankle injury for which he had
surgery in February of that year. He competed at the 2007 World Championships
but did not reach the final, finishing 21st in the qualifying round.
2008–2011
Rutherford won the AAA title on 12 July 2008, reaching the
Olympic qualifying distance of 8.20m. He also won the London Grand Prix at
Crystal Palace two weeks later with a distance of 8.16 m. At the 2008 Olympics
in Beijing Rutherford qualified for the final in third place with a distance of
8.16 m. In the final, he had two no-jumps in the first two rounds, and recorded
a distance of 7.84 m in the third round. This was not enough to place him in
the top 8 who would continue to the final three rounds, and he finished in 10th
place.
Rutherford set a British record of 8.30 m on 20 August 2009
in the qualifying round of the World Athletics Championships in Berlin,
improving the previous record held by Chris Tomlinson by 1 cm.
Rutherford did not compete at the 2010 European Championships
due to a foot injury. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won the silver medal
with a jump of 8.22 m.
Rutherford extended his personal best in the long jump to
8.32 m at the Eugene Diamond League meeting on 4 June 2011, although it was not
recognised as a British record as it was wind assisted. In July 2011 Chris
Tomlinson broke Rutherford's British record with a jump of 8.35 m in Paris. At
the 2011 World Championships, Rutherford injured a hamstring during the
qualifying round and did not reach the final.
After the 2011 season, Rutherford worked on his take-off
technique with his coach Dan Pfaff, adopting a technique based on that of Carl
Lewis of making the penultimate step of the approach a lateral step outwards.
2012
Rutherford equalled Tomlinson's British record on 3 May 2012
with a jump of 8.35 m at the OTC Pre-Olympic Series II event in Chula Vista,
California. It was also the longest jump of 2012 at the time.
At the 2012 Olympics in London, Rutherford reached the final
with a jump of 8.08 m, qualifying in fourth place. In the final, he took the
lead in the second round with a jump of 8.21 m, improving to 8.31 m in the
fourth round which proved to be the winning jump. the first was Lynn Davies in
1964. it was 15 cm ahead of silver medallist Mitchell Watt and his second-best
jump of 8.21 m would also have been enough to win the gold. Rutherford's gold
was one of three won by British track and field athletes on the evening of 4
August 2012 ; this was the first time that three gold medals had been won by
British athletes in the same Olympic athletics session.
Following his gold medal, Rutherford was featured on a Royal Mail postage stamp,
and two post boxes in Milton Keynes were painted gold in his honour.
2013
Rutherford parted company with Dan Pfaff, his coach, in
early 2013, when Pfaff returned to his native United States.
Rutherford sustained a hamstring injury during the Paris
Diamond League meeting on 6 July, which forced him to withdraw midway through
the competition. British Athletics delayed announcing their selection for the
men's long jump at the World Championships due to the injury, but on 30 July
Rutherford's selection was confirmed after he passed fitness tests. At the
championships Rutherford failed to reach the final, finishing 14th in the
qualifying round on 14 August with a jump of 7.87m. In the autumn of 2013
Rutherford appointed Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo as his coach. Tawiah-Dodoo also coaches
100m 2013 European Junior Champion Chijindu Ujah and 200m 2011 European Junior
Champion David Bolarinwa. Rutherford's decision to work with a sprint coach was
inspired by advice from former World and Olympic long jump champion Dwight
Phillips. In April, at an early season event at the Olympic Training Center in
Chula Vista, California, Rutherford jumped a personal best of 8.51m, setting a
new British record. The new record was disputed by rival long-jumper Chris
Tomlinson, who used video evidence to suggest the jump was illegal, but a
technical panel assembled by UK Athletics deemed the video evidence to be
inconclusive, and the record was upheld.
Rutherford won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in
July with a jump of 8.20m. In August he won gold at the European Athletics
Championships with a jump of 8.29m.
2015
In February 2015 Rutherford won the Birmingham Indoor Grand
Prix with a jump of 8.17m, a new indoor personal best. In June he won the
Diamond League events in Birmingham with a jump of 8.35m, and in Oslo with a
jump of 8.25m.
Rutherford won the gold medal at the World Championships on
25 August with a jump of 8.41m, his second-longest jump ever and the furthest
he has so far jumped in a major championship. He is one of only six athletes to
jump over 8.40m in a world championship final this century. His victory made
him the fifth British athlete to hold Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth
titles simultaneously, after Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell
and Jonathan Edwards.
The following week, Rutherford won the long jump at the
final IAAF Diamond League event of the year, the Weldklasse in Zurich. In doing
so, he confirmed his victory in the overall Diamond race for the event, making
him the first British athlete ever to hold all available outdoor titles -
National, Olympic, World, European, Commonwealth and Diamond League titles - at
the same time.
Media appearances
In 2012, Rutherford and gymnast Louis Smith took part in an
episode of The Million Pound Drop Live as part of their 'Celebrity Games'
series. In 2013, he appeared in an episode of Fake Reaction and took part in a
celebrity special edition of The Cube.
In 2014 Rutherford participated in The Great Sport Relief
Bake Off. and appeared as a contestant on The Chase: Celebrity Special.
Honours
Rutherford was appointed Member of the Order of the British
Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for
services to athletics. In July 2013, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of
science by the University of Bedfordshire.
Personal life
Rutherford lives in Woburn Sands, a small town on the
outskirts of Milton Keynes. He and his partner Susie Verrill have a son, born
in 2014. A £100,000 metal statue, situated in Milton Keynes, was erected in
honour of Rutherford in June 2014.
He is a fan of Manchester United.
LEWIS HAMILTON
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from
England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. He is the, and
Formula One World Champion.
In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren
team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him,
"I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less
than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young
Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula
Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder,
Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One",
although Willy T. Ribbs tested a Formula One car in 1986.
In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records
while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point
behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season in
dramatic fashion, becoming the then-youngest Formula One world champion in
history before Sebastian Vettel broke the record two years later. Following his
second world title in 2014, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In
2015, he became the first British driver in history to win consecutive F1
titles, and the second Brit to win three titles after Jackie Stewart. He also
became the first English driver to reach that milestone. He is the only driver
on the current grid to have won at least one race in each season he has
competed to date, with McLaren from 2007 until 2012, and with Mercedes since
2013. He has more race victories than any other British driver in the history
of Formula One and is currently third on the all-time wins list, with wins.
Early life
Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage,
Hertfordshire, England. Hamilton's mother, Carmen Larbalestier, is white
British, while his father, Anthony Hamilton, is black British, making him
mixed-race; Lewis Hamilton's parents separated when he was two, as a result of
this he lived with his mother and half-sisters Nicola and Samantha until he was
twelve, when he started living with his father, stepmother Linda and
half-brother Nicolas, also a professional racing driver, who has cerebral
palsy. In early 2011, Nicolas signed with Total Control Racing to start a
racing career in the 2011 Renault Clio Cup. Hamilton was raised a Roman
Catholic.
Hamilton's father bought him a radio-controlled car in 1991,
which gave him his first taste of racing competition. Hamilton finished second
in the national BRCA championship the following year. He said of the time:
"I was racing these remote-controlled cars and winning club championships
against adults". As a result of this his father bought him his first
go-kart as a Christmas present at the age of six. His father told him that he
would support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school. Supporting
his son became problematic, which caused him to take redundancy from his
position as an IT Manager and become a contractor. He was sometimes employed in
up to three jobs at a time, while still managing to find enough time to attend
all Hamilton's races. He later set up his own computer company as well as
working as a full-time manager for Hamilton. Hamilton ended his working
relationship with his father in early 2010 and subsequently signed a management
deal in March 2011 with Simon Fuller's firm XIX Entertainment. In November
2014, Hamilton announced that he would not be renewing his management contract
with Fuller.
Hamilton was educated at The John Henry Newman School, a
voluntary aided Catholic secondary school in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
Alongside his interest for racing, he played association football for his
school team with England international midfielder Ashley Young. or a cricketer,
having played both for his school teams as a youngster. He subsequently
attended, in February 2001, Cambridge Arts and Sciences, a private sixth-form
college in Cambridge. At the age of five Hamilton took up karate to defend
himself as a result of bullying at school. At around 12, he learned to ride a
unicycle, as part of his karting rivalry with future F1 Mercedes teammate, Nico
Rosberg, who could already ride one.
Early career
Karting
Hamilton began karting in 1993 at the age of eight, at the
Rye House Kart Circuit and quickly began winning races and Cadet class
championships. At the age of ten he approached McLaren F1 team boss Ron Dennis
for an autograph, and told him, "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British
Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars." Dennis wrote in
his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out
then." Hamilton drove for Martin Hines's Zip Young Guns Karting Team. From
the Cadet ranks, he progressed through to Junior Yamaha and Ron Dennis actually called him in 1998
after Hamilton won an additional Super One series and his second British
championship.
In 2001, Michael Schumacher made a one-off return to karts
and competed against Hamilton along with other future F1 drivers Vitantonio
Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton ended the final in seventh, four places
behind Schumacher. Although the two saw little of each other on the track
Schumacher praised the young Briton.
Formula Renault and Formula Three
Hamilton began his car racing career in the 2001 British
Formula Renault Winter Series. Despite crashing on his third lap in the car in
testing, he finished fifth overall in the winter series. and in the second he
crashed out and was taken to hospital after a collision with his team-mate Tor
Graves. He did show his speed at both the Macau Grand Prix and Korea Super
Prix, in the latter he qualified on pole position in his first visit to the
track and in only his fourth F3 race. Asked in 2002 about the prospect of
becoming one of the youngest ever Formula One drivers, Hamilton replied that
his goal was "not to be the youngest in F1 ... to be experienced and then
show what I can do in F1".
Later in 2004, Williams would announce that they had come
close to signing him but were refused the opportunity due to BMW, their engine
supplier at the time, refusing to fund Hamilton's career. Hamilton eventually
re-signed with McLaren, and made his debut with Manor in the 2004 Formula 3
Euro Series. They won one race and Hamilton ended the year fifth in the
championship. He also won the Bahrain F3 Superprix and raced one of the Macau
F3 Grand Prix. Hamilton first tested for McLaren in late 2004 at Silverstone.
Hamilton moved to the reigning Euro Series champions ASM for
the 2005 season and dominated the championship, winning 15 of the 20 rounds.
This would have been 16 but for being disqualified from one win at
Spa-Francorchamps on a technical infringement that caught out several other
drivers. After the season British magazine Autosport featured him in their
"Top 50 Drivers of 2005" issue, ranking Hamilton 24th.
GP2
Due to his success in Formula Three, he moved to ASM's
sister GP2 team ART Grand Prix for 2006. Just like their sister team in F3, ART
were the leaders of the field and reigning champions having taken the 2005 GP2
crown with Nico Rosberg. Hamilton won the GP2 championship at his first
attempt, beating Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Timo Glock.
His performances included a dominant win at the Nürburgring,
despite serving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. At his home race at
Silverstone, supporting the, Hamilton overtook two rivals at Becketts, a series
of high-speed bends where overtaking is
rare. In Istanbul he recovered from a spin that left him in eighteenth place to
take second position in the final corners. He won the title in unusual
circumstances, inheriting the final point he needed after Giorgio Pantano was
stripped of fastest lap in the Monza feature race. In the sprint race, though
he finished second with Piquet sixth, he finished twelve points clear of his
rival.
His 2006 GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at
McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi
Räikkönen to Ferrari. After months of speculation on whether Hamilton, Pedro de
la Rosa or Gary Paffett would be paired with defending champion Fernando Alonso
for, Hamilton was confirmed as the team's second driver. He was told of
McLaren's decision on 30 September, but the news was not made public until 24
November, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's
retirement announcement.
Formula One career
McLaren
2007
It was announced prior to the start of the season that
Hamilton would be partnering defending double World Champion Fernando Alonso
who had joined McLaren after leaving Renault. On his debut at the, he finished
third in the race, becoming the thirteenth driver to finish on the podium in
his first F1 career race. In Bahrain and Barcelona, Hamilton finished second
behind Felipe Massa to take the lead in the drivers championship. This meant
that Hamilton broke Bruce McLaren's record of being the youngest driver to ever
lead the world championship.
Hamilton finished second behind Alonso at Monaco and
afterwards he suggested he was prevented from racing his team mate. The FIA
cleared McLaren following an investigation. Hamilton had both his first pole
position and first victory of his F1 career in the in Montreal. A week later
Hamilton won the, becoming the first Briton since John Watson in 1983 to win an
F1 race in the US, and only the second person, after Jacques Villeneuve, to win
more than one race in his rookie Formula One season since the first year of the
Championship.
By finishing third at Magny-Cours behind Ferrari drivers
Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa, Hamilton extended his lead in the Driver's
Championship to 14 points. In Hamilton's first home Grand Prix at Silverstone
he finished third. Having secured this podium finish meant he equalled Jim
Clark's record of 9 consecutive podium finishes for a British driver.
During qualifying for the, Hamilton crashed at the Schumacher
chicane after a problem with the wheel nut caused by the wheel gun used on his
car. He was taken to the circuit's medical centre on a stretcher with an oxygen
mask and drip, but was conscious throughout. He was unable to complete
qualifying and his existing laptime was surpassed by all other competitors
during Q3, thus he qualified in tenth position. After a final medical check on
Sunday morning, Hamilton was cleared to race. During a heavy rainstorm which
caused the race to be red-flagged Hamilton slid off into a gravel trap, however
as he kept his engine running he was lifted back on to the circuit and able to
rejoin the race after the restart. His ninth-place finish in this race was his
first non-podium and non-points finish. Controversially, Hamilton became the
first and only driver to have his car recovered by a crane and put back on the
track during a Formula One race. This led some to the conclusion Hamilton was
getting preferential treatment by the FIA as all other drivers who went off
into the gravel were not craned back onto the track. The FIA subsequently
banned the use of mechanical assistance to move a car back on track afterwards.
Hamilton won the from pole position following a
controversial qualifying session. Alonso had set the fastest time, but was
relegated five places down the grid to sixth for preventing Hamilton from
leaving the pit lane in time to complete his final qualifying lap. After the
race Hamilton declared that he had restored his relationship with Alonso. At
the Turkish Grand Prix Hamilton suffered a puncture which saw him finish in
fifth place.
Alonso beat Hamilton in the Italian and Belgian Grands Prix,
leaving Hamilton with a two-point lead in the title race. However he extended
his lead to 12 points after winning the in heavy rain after Alonso crashed.
Following the race Hamilton was investigated by the race stewards over his
involvement in an incident behind the safety car, which saw both Sebastian
Vettel and Mark Webber crash out of the race while following him. The trio were
cleared on the Friday of the weekend.
At the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton started from pole, but
failed to finish after McLaren left him out for too long on worn tyres,, and he
slid into a gravel trap as he came into the pit lane. Hamilton thus went into
the final race of the season four and seven points ahead of Alonso and
Räikkönen respectively.
In the Hamilton finished in seventh place and Räikkönen won,
which meant that Hamilton came second in the championship by one point. On the
first lap Hamilton was passed by several cars and dropped to eighth place. On
the ninth lap of the race Hamilton could not select a gear and ending up
coasting for 40 seconds. He recovered to seventh place but Ferrari switched
their two drivers allowing the championship to go to Räikkönen. Hamilton took
the record of Youngest World Drivers' Championship runner-up, at 22 years and
288 days, previously held by Kimi Räikkönen at 23 years and 360 days.
On 21 October 2007 it was announced that the FIA were
investigating BMW Sauber and Williams for fuel irregularities, the BMW drivers
had finished in fifth and sixth place, and if they were to be excluded Hamilton
would be promoted to fifth and would win the 2007 Drivers World Championship by
one point over Räikkönen. Ultimately no penalty whatsoever was given to any
team as there was "sufficient doubt as to render it inappropriate to
impose a penalty", though McLaren officially appealed this decision.
Hamilton subsequently told the BBC he did not want to win an F1 title through
the disqualifications of other drivers.
Team tensions
Hamilton's relationship with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis
dates back to 1995, with the first indication that Hamilton was unhappy with
his team appearing after he finished second at Monaco in 2007. After post-race
comments made by Hamilton which suggested he had been forced into a supporting
role, the FIA initiated an inquiry to determine whether McLaren had broken
rules by enforcing team orders. McLaren denied favouring double world champion
Fernando Alonso, and the FIA subsequently vindicated the team, stating that:
"McLaren were able to pursue an optimum team strategy because they had a
substantial advantage over all other cars. They did nothing which could be
described as interfering with the race result". Alonso was relegated to
sixth place on the starting grid, thus elevating Hamilton to first, while McLaren were docked
constructors championship points. Hamilton said he thought Alonso's penalty was
"quite light if anything" and only regretted the loss of
constructors' points. Hamilton was reported to have sworn at Dennis on the team
radio following the incident. British motorsport journal Autosport claimed that
this " Dennis to throw his headphones on the pit wall in disgust ".
However McLaren later issued a statement on behalf of Hamilton which denied the
use of any profanity. As a result of these events, the relationship between
Hamilton and Alonso temporarily collapsed, with the pair not on speaking terms
for a short period. In the aftermath it was reported that Hamilton had been
targeted by Luca di Montezemolo regarding a Ferrari drive for.
Following the stewards' investigation into the incident at
the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, Alonso stated: "I'm not thinking of this
championship any more, it's been decided off the track. The drivers' briefing
has no purpose. You go there to hear what Charlie Whiting and the other
officials say. Twenty one drivers have an opinion, Charlie and the officials
another, and so it's like talking to a wall".
The rivalry between Hamilton and teammate Alonso led to
speculation that one of the pair would leave McLaren at the end of the 2007
season and Alonso and McLaren subsequently terminated their contract by mutual
consent on 2 November 2007.
2008
On 14 December 2007, it was confirmed that Heikki Kovalainen
who drove for Renault in 2007 would drive the second car for McLaren-Mercedes
for the 2008 Formula One season alongside Hamilton. In January 2008, Hamilton
signed a new five-year multimillion-pound contract to stay with
McLaren-Mercedes until the end of the 2012 season.
Hamilton won the first race of the 2008 season, the, having
qualified on pole position. In Malaysia, he finished fifth after he had started
from ninth on the grid, serving a penalty for impeding Nick Heidfeld's
qualifying lap. He was back on the podium in Spain finishing third. Hamilton
finished second in Turkey, and won the, putting him in the lead of the
championship. In Montreal, Hamilton crashed into the back of Räikkönen during
the race, after failing to see that the Finn was waiting at a red light at the
end of the pit lane as the whole field went past under the guide of the safety
car. Both cars were forced to retire and Hamilton was given a 10 position grid
penalty for the next race, the . Despite an error in qualifying that saw him
start fourth on the grid, Hamilton went on to win the in difficult, wet
conditions. His performance was stated as being one of his best drives to date.
Hamilton himself said in the post race press conference that it was his most
difficult and most meaningful win. In the next race at Hockenheim, Hamilton won
the race despite a tactical blunder by the team.
Hamilton won the, however he was later judged to have gained
an unfair advantage by cutting a chicane when he used a tarmac run off area to
avoid hitting Kimi Räikkönen. McLaren said that their telemetry showed Hamilton
backed off to let Räikkönen past but Hamilton was given a 25-second penalty,
thereby dropping him to third. As a result, his main title rival Massa
inherited the win. Hamilton's lead in the Drivers' Championship was cut to two
points, and a subsequent appeal by McLaren to the FIA World Motor Sport Council
was rejected on the grounds that the case was inadmissible.
The Italian Grand Prix saw Hamilton finish in seventh place.
This result cut Hamilton's lead in the Championship to one point. Hamilton
finished third at the next race in Singapore, while Massa failed to score any
points, allowing Hamilton to increase his championship lead to seven points. At
Fuji, Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for forcing other cars off the
track when he made an error on the first lap. Before he could serve the penalty
Hamilton attempted to pass Massa who hit him after the Ferraris driver made a
mistake. Massa was later given a drive-through penalty for this move. Hamilton
could only finish in 12th position, however Massa finished seventh after being
given an extra point after a penalty was given to Toro Rosso's Sébastien
Bourdais. This meant that with just two races to go Hamilton led the World
Championship by five points from Massa. At the, Hamilton won the race from
Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, taking a 7-point lead in the World
Championship into the last race of the season. Speaking afterwards, Hamilton
said "All weekend we have had God on our side as always, and the team did
a phenomenal job in preparing the car, which has been a dream to drive."
At the, Hamilton needed to finish at least in fifth position
if Massa won the race to secure the World Championship. In mixed conditions,
Hamilton became the youngest Formula One World Champion as he snatched the
championship on the very last corner. Just before the race began a rain shower
hit and Hamilton ran in fourth place before dropping down to sixth to put on
dry weather tyres. Hamilton moved back to fourth place after passing Fisichella
and overtaking the three stopping Vettel. Hamilton held Vettel off and after
they pitted for wet weather tyres as another shower he was fifth. But with two
laps to go Vettel overtook Hamilton and the Brit could not get back past, but
on the final lap he and Vettel made up an eighteen-second gap on Glock who had
stayed out on dry tyres and Hamilton overtook him for fifth place and the
championship by one point in the very last corner as Massa won the race. This
meant that Hamilton had clinched the 2008 Formula One World Championship,
becoming the youngest driver to win the title, as well as the first black
driver. He is also the first British driver to win the World Championship since
Damon Hill triumphed in 1996.
Racial abuse
On 4 February 2008, Hamilton was verbally heckled and
otherwise abused during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in
Catalonia by several Spanish spectators who wore black face paint and black
wigs, as well as shirts bearing the words "Hamilton's ". Hamilton
became widely unpopular in Spain because of his rivalry with Spanish former
team-mate Fernando Alonso. The FIA have warned Spanish authorities about the
repetition of such behaviour. In reaction to this behaviour, the FIA announced
on 13 February 2008 that it will launch a "Race Against Racism"
campaign.
Shortly before the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, a website
owned by the Spanish branch of the New York-based advertising agency TBWA and
named "pinchalaruedadeHamilton"
was featured in the British media. The website contained an animated
image of Interlagos that allowed users to leave nails and porcupines on the
track for Hamilton's car to run over. Among thousands of comments left since
2007, some included racial insults. His rival Fernando Alonso condemned the
racist supporters.
2009
Hamilton started the season-opening from 18th place on the
grid after the McLaren team incurred a penalty for changing his gearbox during
qualifying. Hamilton benefited from a late crash between Red Bull's Sebastian
Vettel and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica to move into fourth place by the end of
the race. He was then promoted to third after Jarno Trulli was penalised for
overtaking him under safety-car conditions. During a post-race stewards'
hearing, Hamilton and McLaren officials told stewards they had not purposely
let Trulli pass, but it was revealed by release of the McLaren race radio
communication that this was not true. Hamilton was then disqualified from the
race for providing "misleading evidence" during the stewards'
hearing. He later privately apologised to FIA race director Charlie Whiting for
having lied to the stewards. He went on to describe the incident as the hardest
week of his life, and considered quitting Formula One.
Hamilton scored minor points at the Malaysian, Chinese and
Bahrain Grands Prix. Hamilton's fortunes were reversed at the Hungaroring, the
tenth round of the season where he won the race, 11.529 seconds clear of
Räikkönen to take his 10th career win and the first for a KERS-equipped car.
McLaren's return to form continued in Valencia, where Hamilton finished second.
In, Hamilton took his second win of the season. He finished third at the
Japanese and Brazilian Grands Prix. In the inaugural, Hamilton led the race,
but retired on lap 20 due to a rear brake problem, his first technical-related
retirement in Formula One.
2010
For the new season Hamilton would drive alongside Jenson
Button, after Heikki Kovalainen moved to Lotus Racing.
Hamilton finished third in Bahrain, In Australia, Hamilton
ended the race in sixth place, after a late-race collision with Mark Webber. In
Malaysia a misjudgement on the weather by his team in qualifying, left him on
tyres that were unfavourable for the wet conditions. This restricted him to
20th on the grid for the race, but he made his way through the field to finish
in sixth place. Hamilton was given a warning during the race, after he weaved
four times on a straight as he tried to break the tow that Vitaly Petrov was
receiving and was not intending to block him. After the race the rules were
clarified by stewards to only allow a driver to make one move during an
overtaking manoeuvre.
Hamilton achieved a second-place finish in China behind
Jenson Button. This completed McLaren's first 1–2 finish since the 2007 Italian
Grand Prix. Hamilton was involved in a pit lane incident with Red Bull driver
Sebastian Vettel, for which both later received a reprimand from race stewards.
In Monaco Hamilton qualified and finished 5th. In the Grand Prix, Hamilton
claimed his first victory of the 2010 season as he and Button completed a 1–2.
Hamilton qualified on pole for the, continuing a 100% pole record at Circuit
Gilles Villeneuve. After setting his pole lap, Hamilton received instructions
from his team to stop on circuit due to a lack of fuel in the car which would
not be equivalent to the level necessary for a sample to be taken by the FIA.
Hamilton was reprimanded after failing to complete his in-lap in a sufficient
time, while his team received a $10,000 fine. But Hamilton went on to win the
race and take the lead in the Drivers' Championship after McLaren's third 1–2
of the season. In Valencia Alonso complained on his radio that Hamilton had
gained an advantage by not following the safety car which led to the stewards giving
Hamilton a drive through penalty. However Alonso and the Ferrari were furious
as the length of time to make a decision meant that the penalty did not alter
the result of the race as Hamilton finished second. This led to Hamilton to
accuse Alonso of "sour grapes", although the pair reconciled before
the next race.
He finished second at his home race at Silverstone, and
followed it up with fourth at the . Despite running into the gravel at
Spa-Francorchamps, Hamilton won his third race of the season and reclaimed the
championship lead. At the, Hamilton finished fifth. In South Korea, Hamilton
finished second and finished fourth at the . In the final race of the season in
Abu Dhabi Hamilton finished second to Vettel in the race, who broke Hamilton's
record for being the youngest ever Formula One World Champion.
2011
At the start of the 2011 season Hamilton dismissed Red Bull
Racing as "just a drinks company". Hamilton began the season
qualifying and finishing second in the, despite having to deal with a damaged
floor on his McLaren. In the, he qualified second and finished seventh
on-the-road, struggling partly due to tyre wear and being tagged by Ferrari's
Fernando Alonso in the closing stages. Hamilton received a 20-second time
penalty post-race for weaving whilst defending and unsuitable driving, which
dropped Hamilton to eighth place. Hamilton took his first win of the season in
China. He then finished fourth in Turkey, and second in Spain.
In Monaco, he qualified tenth after Q3 was red-flagged before
he could set a competitive time due to a heavy crash from Sergio Pérez. During
the race Hamilton received a drive through penalty after he bumped into Massa
at the Hotel Harpin. Later on, Alguersuari crashed into Hamilton, breaking his
rear wing; the race was red-flagged as Petrov crashed at the same time allowing
his team to fix the car. On the restart he had a collision with Maldonado at
Sainte Devote, which later he was given a 20-second time penalty for but it did
not affect his finishing position. In an interview with the BBC Hamilton, said
that he had been to the stewards five races out of six thus far in the season
and felt victimised. When prompted why he had been to the stewards so much
Hamilton replied "Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G
says." He later returned to the stewards and explained the joke and
escaped further punishment.
At the, Hamilton collided with Webber at the first corner
before rejoining behind his team mate. A few laps later Hamilton tried to
capitalise on a mistake attempted to pass teammate Button who pushed the former
into the pitwall causing Hamilton to retire with a broken driveshaft, both
agreed that it was one of those things. In Valencia and Silverstone Hamilton
finished fourth after holding off Massa whilst managing high tyre wear in the
former and conserve fuel in the later. In Germany, Hamilton took his second
victory of 2011 as he held off Webber and Alonso. In Hungary Hamilton had five
pitstops and a drive-through penalty for sending Paul di Resta onto the grass
as he finished fourth. He finished fourth at Monza after a race long battle
with Michael Schumacher, who he refused to blame the German after his
aggressive tactics.
In, Hamilton caused an accident with Felipe Massa which left
Hamilton needing a new front wing and a drive through penalty. Hamilton was
accused by Massa of being "incapable of using his brain," during a
post race interview. Whilst the pair conducted interviews, Massa grabbed
Hamilton's shoulder saying "Good job, man, well done" which Hamilton
responded by telling the Brazilian to leave him alone. Before the Japanese
Grand Prix Hamilton insisted that he had not done anything wrong during the
season. During the race Hamilton suffered a puncture before once again tangling
with Massa; despite Ferrari pushing for Hamilton to be punished, Hamilton
escaped a reprimand as he finished fifth. Hamilton later told Massa to
"grow up", after admitting that his Formula One career had driven
over a cliff.
In Korea, Hamilton qualified on pole position, ending a run
of 16 consecutive pole positions for Red Bull. He led only until turn four on
lap 1, where World Champion Sebastian Vettel overtook him and went on to win
the race as Hamilton finished second. At the inaugural race in India, Hamilton
recorded the second-fastest time in qualifying, but was penalised three places
on the starting grid, after a yellow flag infraction in Friday practice.
Hamilton finished seventh after yet another incident with Massa which left the
Brazilian facing the penalty as Hamilton had to replace the front wing. In Abu
Dhabi, Hamilton qualified second and won the race. In Brazil Hamilton and Massa
ended their feud as he retired from the race and finish fifth overall in the
championship.
2012
Hamilton remained at McLaren alongside Button for the 2012
season. Hamilton qualified in pole position for the, but finished third after
being passed by Button at the start, and by Vettel after pitting before a
safety car. Hamilton again qualified on pole for the, but in the race was passed
early on by Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez, finishing third. Hamilton took
his third consecutive third-place finish in China, with Nico Rosberg and Button
ahead. Hamilton qualified in second place in Bahrain, but during the race, a
series of poor pitstops put him out of contention, and he finished eighth.
Hamilton was also involved in a controversial racing incident with Rosberg,
with Rosberg appearing to push Hamilton off track while he attempted to
overtake. Hamilton qualified on pole position for the, but had to stop the car
on track in order for a reputable fuel sample to be given post-qualifying. The
stewards decided he had breached qualifying rules introduced after a similar
incident involving Hamilton at the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Race stewards
excluded him from the qualifying results, and demoted him to the back of the
grid; but despite this, Hamilton finished eighth, ahead of Button, who had
started in tenth.
Hamilton achieved his first victory of the season at
the – winning the race for the third
time – after overtaking Fernando Alonso in the closing stages.
Hamilton won the on 29 July 2012 to claim his second win of
the season. Hamilton, along with championship leader Fernando Alonso, retired
from the after being involved in a multiple car accident on the first corner of
the race. Romain Grosjean was deemed responsible for causing the accident and
was given a one-race ban. Hamilton bounced back with pole position for the, and
led for the majority of the race to claim his third victory of the season and
keep his hopes of winning the Drivers' Championship alive. Hamilton again
qualified on pole at the, but suffered a gearbox failure whilst leading the
race. He also retired from the lead of the, before he won the in Austin.
Hamilton's season ended with another pole position and retirement in the
Brazilian GP, when he was involved in a collision with Nico Hülkenberg while
leading in the late stages.
Mercedes
2013
On 28 September 2012, it was announced after much
speculation that Hamilton would be leaving McLaren after the 2012 season to
join the Mercedes-Benz works team for the season onwards, partnering Nico
Rosberg after signing a three-year contract with the team.
In his first race weekend for Mercedes, the, Hamilton
qualified in third and ended the race in fifth place. Hamilton finished third
in Malaysia to take his first podium for the team, although Nico Rosberg was
prevented from attempting to overtake him by team orders. At the following race
in China, Hamilton secured his first pole position for Mercedes.
At Monaco after being out-qualified by his team-mate Rosberg
for the third successive race, Hamilton admitted that he was struggling to
control the car under braking. Prior to the race, both Red Bull and Ferrari had
lodged formal complaints against Mercedes for taking part in what was
determined to be an illegal tyre test. Neither Mercedes drivers received any
punishment for the breach of rules, and Mercedes was given a reprimand.
At the, Hamilton secured his first race win as a Mercedes
driver, the first British driver to win a Formula One race in a Mercedes works
car since Stirling Moss did so at the 1955 British Grand Prix, at Silverstone.
He won the race from an unexpected pole position, eventually crossing the line
nearly 11 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kimi Räikkönen. By winning the
Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton continued his personal record of winning at
least one race prior to the mid-season break, and went into the summer break in
the fourth place in the Drivers' Championship. At the he secured his fifth and
last pole position of the season and finished the race third. Although he did
not score any podiums for the rest of the season, a string of point finishes
helped him end the season in fourth place.
2014
A new rule for the 2014 season allowed the drivers to pick a
unique car number that they will use for their entire career. Hamilton picked
No. 44, the same number he used during his karting days.
During pre-season testing in Jerez, Hamilton along with
Mercedes team-mate Rosberg showed themselves as the team to beat. This was
realised at the where Hamilton took pole. He was forced to retire, but Rosberg
dominated to win by over 20 seconds. In Malaysia, Hamilton's potential was
realised when he won from pole in a Mercedes one-two, the first since . In
Bahrain, Mercedes were unstoppable with Rosberg claiming pole in a Mercedes
front-row lock-out. Hamilton got a better start but still battled hard with
Rosberg through the early part of the race. Mercedes chose split strategies for
their drivers, and Hamilton opened up a gap on the faster option tyres. But the
safety car was called out after Esteban Gutiérrez rolled his Sauber. Hamilton
was forced to battle Rosberg in a gripping race to the finish with tight wheel-to-wheel
racing. In the end Hamilton won, taking consecutive victories for the first
time since the season, when he won in Turkey and Canada.
Mercedes's dominance was further confirmed in China where
Hamilton took pole and then led every lap of the race while his teammate
finished in second place. This completed a hat-trick of wins, the first of
Hamilton's career. Mercedes continued to dominate in Spain where Hamilton once
again set pole position and went on to win the race – his fourth successive win
– despite close competition from team-mate Nico Rosberg who finished in second
place. At Monaco, Hamilton qualified 2nd behind Rosberg. Rosberg was
investigated by the stewards after he went down the escape road at the Mirabeau
corner. The resulting yellow flags forced Hamilton to back off in the final
moments of the session, which could have cost Hamilton a chance at pole
position. Rosberg was cleared of any wrongdoing in that incident. Rosberg won
the race with Hamilton finishing 2nd. During qualifying for the, Hamilton had a
brake failure and started 20th but managed to finish 3rd. An engine fire in
qualifying for the meant he would start from the pit lane from where he again
managed to climb to third ahead of Rosberg, despite being ordered by his race
engineer to let his teammate past.
At the first race after the summer break in Belgium,
Hamilton took the lead from Rosberg at the start but a collision between them
on lap two punctured his rear tyre and he later retired from the race. He then
won the Italian, and Singapore Grands Prix each from pole to take the lead in
the Drivers' Championship. This was followed by victories at the – which was stopped due to heavy rain – the
Russian and United States Grands Prix to achieve five consecutive victories for
the first time in his career. His tenth victory of the season was also his 32nd
career victory, the most of any British driver. Hamilton became the World
Champion after winning the, beating team mate Rosberg by 67 points, after
Rosberg's car encountered mechanical trouble during the race. Hamilton said in
the podium interview "This is the greatest day of my life". At the
end of the year, Hamilton was awarded with the BBC Sports Personality of the
Year Award.
2015
Hamilton enjoyed a continuation of Mercedes's dominance
heading into the season, as the new W06 Hybrid completed more laps in
pre-season testing than any rival car, and did so using just one power unit. At
the opening race in Australia, Hamilton qualified in pole position, 0.594
seconds quicker than team-mate Rosberg and 1.391 seconds clear of Felipe
Massa's Williams in third. Hamilton then won the race ahead of Rosberg in
second, with Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in third, 34 seconds back. In Monaco he
lost first position to his team mate Rosberg after leading the race for 65 laps
due to a pit-stop error made by his team, eventually finishing third.
Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes announced they had
extended the contract with Hamilton for three additional years, keeping him at
the squad until the end of the 2018 season. This followed months of widely
publicised contract talks between the driver, who chose to negotiate on his own
behalf, and the team. The deal is reportedly worth more than 100 million pounds
over the full three years, making Hamilton one of the best paid drivers in
Formula One. It was also reported that the extension contract granted Hamilton
the right to maintain his own image rights, which is considered unusual in the
sport, and keep his championship winning cars as well as the trophies he
collects.
After a win-less start to the European round, Hamilton went
on to win the British Grand Prix for the second time in a row and third
overall, also surpassing Jackie Stewart's 45-year-old record of laps led in
eighteen consecutive Grands Prix. He finished 6th in an eventful Hungarian
Grand Prix, ending his run of 16 consecutive podium finishes, the
second-longest in F1 history. Hamilton won the next two races at Spa and Monza
and extended his championship lead over Nico Rosberg, who was forced to retire
in the latter race due to engine failure, to 53 points. At the Singapore Grand
Prix, Hamilton was only able qualify in 5th ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg, and
had moved up to 4th in the race before he was forced to retire due to a power unit
issue. By winning the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton secured his third
Drivers' Championship with three races left to run.
Comparison with team-mates
During the course of his F1 career, season-by-season
Hamilton has beaten nearly all his team-mates in the Drivers' Championship,
including two World Champions. The exception was in 2011 when Jenson Button
beat him by 43 points.
Hamilton beat Alonso to 2nd in the Championship on
countback of 2nd places, 5 to 4
Helmet
Hamilton's helmet was made yellow so that his father could
tell which kart his son was driving back in his karting days. Hamilton chose
the colours blue, green and red and they were originally in a ribbon design;
however before entering F1, Hamilton felt that the design was "a bit old
hat" so it was changed. In later years a white ring was added and the
ribbons moved forward to make room for adverts and logos.
During the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton had an altered
helmet design with the addition of a roulette wheel image on the top. Hamilton
had said, "...I'll also be wearing a specially-painted helmet for the
occasion. When you see it, you'll know why I'll be hoping for it to swing the
odds in my favour."
Hamilton's helmet underwent one major change during his F1
career. From his debut in 2007 until 2010 his helmet was yellow with a metallic
green ribbon on the upper visor and a metallic blue ribbon on the lower
visor It furthermore featured a bright
red diagonal patch where these stripes bordered the visor. The yellow however
was not a rich, sunburst yellow like Senna's helmet but was a whiter, pastel
yellow.
From 2011 onwards Hamilton's helmet was changed whereby it
no longer resembled Senna's helmet as much as it had done. The green and blue
ribbons were changed to the diagonal style of the red patch, with a single red
stripe behind the helmet with the letters "Hamilton" printed within
it.
For the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton wore a special
helmet that was a fusion of his post 2011 helmet, and that of Ayrton Senna. The
helmet was auctioned after the race in aid of the Ayrton Senna Foundation.
Personal life
In October 2007, Hamilton announced his intention to live in
Switzerland, stating that this was because he wished to get away from the media
scrutiny that he experienced living in the United Kingdom. Hamilton admitted
under questioning on the television show Parkinson, which was broadcast on 10
November 2007, that taxation was partly responsible for his decision, in
addition to wanting more privacy. Hamilton received public criticism from UK
MPs including Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell for avoiding UK taxes. He settled
in Luins in Vaud canton on Lake Geneva; other Formula One drivers, including
world champions Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso, also
live in Switzerland. Hamilton was one of several super-rich figures whose tax
arrangements were singled out for criticism in a report by the charity
Christian Aid in 2008.
In November 2007, Hamilton started dating Nicole Scherzinger,
the lead singer of the American girl band Pussycat Dolls; it was announced in
January 2010 that they split up to focus on their respective careers. However,
they were seen together at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix and at the Canadian
Grand Prix in Montreal, on 13 June 2010. The couple split up and reunited
numerous times between 2011 and 2013, but appeared to have got back together in
November 2013. They split up again in February 2015.
At the start of 2012, he moved his personal residence from Switzerland
to Monaco, which is also a tax haven.
At the start of 2013, Hamilton took delivery of a metallic
red and black Bombardier Challenger 600 series private jet, tail plate number
G-LCDH.
Hamilton was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the 2009 New
Year Honours.
On 18 March 2009, Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of
Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race suit. This wax replica cost
around £150,000 and took over six months to complete. In 2012, Hamilton
featured in the cartoon Tooned, alongside Jenson Button and comedian Alexander
Armstrong.
On 18 December 2007, Hamilton was suspended from driving in
France for a month after being caught speeding at on a French motorway. His
Mercedes-Benz CLK was also impounded.
Two days before the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, Victoria
Police witnessed Hamilton "deliberately losing traction" in his
silver Mercedes-AMG C63, and impounded the car for 48 hours. Hamilton
immediately released a statement of apology for "driving in an
over-exuberant manner". After being charged with intentionally losing
control of a vehicle, Hamilton was eventually fined A$500, being described as a
"Hoon" by the magistrate.
Hamilton is a fan of art; one of his favourite artists is
Andy Warhol. Prior to the 2014 United States Grand Prix, Hamilton wore a
gold-framed version of Warhol's Cars, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe painting
hanging from a chain around his neck.
One of Hamilton's favourite cars is the AC Cobra. He owns
two unrestored 1967 models, one black and one red. In February 2015, it was
reported that Hamilton had purchased a Ferrari LaFerrari from "his rivals
in Maranello."
Hamilton has an estimated personal fortune of £88m.
Part Two coming soon.
Tipster Street.
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