Highlights

Hamilton's focus is racing, not race

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-22 11:25

Willy T. Ribbs was once asked how he felt turning up at a NASCAR event as the only black driver.

"This is about racing, not race," replied the Californian, who in 1985 became the first African American to take part in a Formula One test and went on to be the first to start the Indianapolis 500.

"I never considered myself a black race driver," he recalled years later in a newspaper interview. "I considered myself a race driver. Period."

They are words that Lewis Hamilton, the 21-year-old Briton whose Formula One tests with McLaren at Silverstone this week could put him in the race car for next season, would wholeheartedly endorse.

The fact that he is the first driver of Afro-Caribbean extraction since Ribbs to get behind the wheel of a grand prix car, and looks certain to become the first to race in Formula One, is for others to get excited about.

Hamilton is a racer, first and foremost, in a sport where it matters nothing what you look like once you have got your fireproof overalls and helmet on.

The important thing is that he is quick and has won every series that he has entered so far.

"The way I see it, my colour is an advantage in that it's something people talk about," Hamilton said when asked about his background. "But the bottom line is that it's clearly not why I'm in this position."

OBVIOUS TALENT

Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents came from Trinidad, may be worth his weight in gold for a sport looking to win over new markets and audiences while painfully aware that ethnic diversity is not a strong point.

There is nobody from the world's most populous nation, China, and India's Narain Karthikeyan left after one season with Jordan. Africa is unrepresented and the Arab World has only a race in Bahrain.

Hamilton would be good box office in any circumstances but it is what he has done on the race track in the GP2 feeder series this season that has excited those with a real passion for the sport.

There have been races where the Formula One paddock has talked more about him on a Saturday afternoon than what went on in qualifying for the grand prix.

If he has enjoyed the backing of McLaren for more than a decade, it is because he has obvious talent.

"His blackness isn't important," McLaren boss Ron Dennis said last year as talk about the youngster grew louder.

"I have constantly said to him: 'The moment that you exploit your blackness, you are going to have a problem with me. Basically you've got to develop your career on your ability to drive a racing car'."

Hamilton has done that. He won the GP2 crown at the first attempt and beat a far more experienced team mate in equal machinery.

He has been a champion in karting, Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries -- and he is unquestionably ready for the next step up.

MEDIA ATTENTION

Hamilton may say he is relaxed about this week's testing, but he also knows that he can make a real claim for one of the most coveted drives in Formula One, with all the media attention that goes with it.

When Ribbs travelled to Portugal in late 1985, it was a different story.

He was a guest of future Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, then the Brabham team owner and someone who has always known what the sport needs and how to grab a headline.

Ribbs became the first black driver to experience the power of a modern Formula One car but he never got the chance to show what he could do in a grand prix.

Brabham were sponsored by Italy's Olivetti and, unsurprisingly, started the 1986 season with two Italian drivers.

William Theodore Ribbs Jr, a winner in Formula Ford against the likes of future Formula One champion Nigel Mansell, was never in with a shout.

Hamilton has every chance and, if he gets the nod, his emergence -- for those who do not pay too much attention to motor racing -- could be as groundbreaking as Tiger Woods's arrival was to golf.

Inside Formula One he is already known simply as Lewis. Britain's Autosport magazine made him the cover story this week, describing him as a "hot prospect" and "rising star". Nothing else needed to be said.

The only race issue for most fans is whether or not he will be on the starting grid in Melbourne next March.