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Friday 1 January 2021

Lewis Hamilton And Daily Mail Racism

Motor racing is dangerous: not as dangerous as it was in the days when Formula 1 world champions died at the wheel, as the great Jim Clark did in 1968, and Jochen Rindt did in 1970, becoming the first (and thankfully so far only) posthumous F1 world champion. Nowadays, drivers can look forward to coming through their F1 careers in one piece, but that cannot detract from the achievement of Lewis Hamilton.


The Mercedes team leader has chalked up seven F1 world titles, 95 race wins, 98 pole positions, and 165 podium finishes. Sure, he has had the benefit of very good cars at both Mercedes and McLaren, but he has also had to beat some formidable competition to get his hands on the prize. So it was no surprise at all that he was knighted in this year’s New Year Honours. No-one could quibble at the award. Or maybe they could.

To no surprise at all, it was the inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker who trowelled on the nudge-nudgery for the Daily Mail. “Lewis Hamilton was made a knight in the New Year Honours list last night - despite living in the tax haven of Monaco … Hamilton, 35, who is worth more than £250million, quit the UK in 2007 to live in the tax havens of Switzerland and Monaco”. The Mail complaining about tax havens. But do go on.

Boris Johnson had come under sustained pressure to include Hamilton in the list after a year in which he equalled German ace Michael Schumacher's record with seven F1 titles and became a vocal activist for the Black Lives Matter movement … But Tory MP Andrew Percy questioned why an F1 driver should receive a knighthood on Britain's diplomatic list. He added: 'I would have thought their sponsorship deal would be enough for them.’

It should be borne in mind at this point that Jackie Stewart, whose career total of 27 F1 world championship victories was a record at the time he retired from the sport in 1973, was already a tax exile when he was awarded an MBE. He has since been knighted. With that thought duly entered, back to the Mail, and its total lack of bigotry, honestly.


Football fans are furious at the apparent overlooking of Jimmy Greaves in the New Year's Honours after he received just an MBE for his services to football - while Lewis Hamilton will be knightedcame the rant, followed by “[Greaves] became known for his decades of charity work, with most of his England caps and medals having been quietly donated to charitable causes”. Then came the pointed comparison with Hamilton.

Meanwhile, seven-time F1 champion Hamilton, who is worth an estimated £250million and quit the UK in 2007 to live in the tax havens of Switzerland and Monaco, is being knighted … Twitter users raged about the 'insult', with one commenting: 'He [Hamilton] drove a car that anyone could win with, whereas Jimmy Greaves, a true sportsman, and a gentleman, the greatest goalscorer England has produced, gets an MBE about 50 years too late’”. There is a trawl of Twitter, and lots more dismissiveness for Hamilton.

And while the Mail did not begrudge Stewart his years of living in Switzerland, and indeed is owned by someone with Non-Dom status, it goes after Hamilton and willingly publishes comments which insult and demean the latter’s achievement. But then, there is a difference between Stewart, and indeed Jimmy Greaves, and Lewis Hamilton.

What might that difference be? You might wish to ask that - I couldn’t possibly comment.


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11 comments:

Bwana Mrefu said...

Let's not forget that the owner of the Daily Mail, Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, is a non-dom himself and, as Private Eye has pointed out, even his London car-parking space is owned by an offshore shell company so he can minimize UK Tax payments.

Nick63 said...

Motorsport, including Formula 1, is still very dangerous. Only a few weeks ago Romain Grosjean was very nearly decapitated at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Anonymous said...

Incredible, even by Heil gutter specifications.

Incidentally, though Jimmy Greaves was indeed a great football player and goal scorer he had some way to go to equal the exploits of one William Ralph Dean - who never received a national honour.

Meanwhile, I hope Lewis Hamilton can resist giving a V-sign to the Heil, reversed or not. That would be rubbing salt into the wounds of Hurrah For The Blackshirts.

Twp Gear said...

If motor racing tracks had gutters, the Daily Mail would be in them.

Nick S said...

If only Sir Lewis had known his TRUE place, washing the cars and fetching things for the white drivers. In Daily Mail world black people are fine as long as they are a long way away in Bongo Bongo Land, doing amusing ethnic dancing for the Queen.

Anonymous said...

The award of a knighthood to someone who hates the country that made him what he is marks a new low in the honours list. I have sent back the CDM I was awarded in 1968 in protest. Of course it should Sir Greavesy, maybe the Pope will make him St Jim to match his pal St John. Farage should have been given a kingship for defeating the Fourth Reich and sad that The Doc died before he could inherit his Gorbals dukedom. Those kneeling moisturised pansies that cry if they get a nasty tweet and fall screaming when tickled in the box wouldn't have lasted five minutes when football was still a man's game.

Anonymous said...

Following on from anonymous at 12:32
Just for a bit of mischief, I compared the goal scoring record of St Greavisie with the woke snowflake, Gary Lineker;

Just for clubs,
Greaves averaged 0.68 goals a game, Lineker 0.51
As they both played for Tottenham I also looked at that
Greaves average 0.68, Lineker 0.63
Also Greaves career lasted 7 years longer

Anonymous said...

The Mail only cheers for black when it's a shirt.

Anonymous said...

Can we still boo the ref even if they are BAME and/or female?

danny said...

If you are booing them for making a bad decision then fine.

Anonymous said...

@ 14:18.

Hmmm......Why do you ask?