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When Lewis Hamilton stumbled in his last race of the 2007 season and ultimately lost his chance for a debut Fl World Championship, the critics were ready. But what the detractors overlook is the incredible triumph it was just to be there. Roderick Eime reports. he presumption

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drivers is that they are the children of privilege; precocious, pernicious brats

born into sporting royalty. Certainly some do all they can to confirm that prejudice. Michael Schumacher, for all his undeniable talent, had a mean streak a mile wide. Nigel Mansell, one of the most entertaining drivers you'll ever see, was a legendary dummy-spitter and double world champion, Fernando Alonso, Hamilton's teamnate and b.y default his greatest rival, would step over the line in his quest to retain the title.

Yet throughout that tumultuous season, my greatest menlory u.ill be the unqualified

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sportsmanship and dignity shown by the newest kid on the block. Despite some dirty tricks and

stinging barbs, he stayed above it all, focused on his ultimate prize. "l don't know if I particularly believe that

'win at all costs'is the way forward," Hamilton is quoted as saying.

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is no surprises then that some of the largest

in the world belong to Formula One drivers, and when a young black kid fron-r the wrong side egos

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of town to turns up and starts whipping them, there are bound to be sparks.

Perhaps the most obvious example was the furor created during the so-called "trial by YouTube" when a spectator posted amateur footage of the controversial Japanese GP safety car incident that took out Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

Webber, with an appalling finishing record and relentlessly dogged by bad luck, blamed Hamilton for erratic driving, but the rookie was later cleared

after an FIA inquiry.

Asked, in 2006, whether he thought his colour would create a sort of "Tiger Woods" effect, replied "It's more a thing for the media to talk about. Being the first black man doesn't matter much to me personally, but for the sport itself it probably means quite a lot."

But let's step away from the issue of ethnicity and look dispassionately at Hamilton's arrival.

He came from a broken home in a rough council estate and went to a school where he was picked on.

Author Timothy Collings, who assisted Lewis

with the writing of his autobiography'My Story', observes: "Lewis developed his inner steel, belief and determination out of a disciplined response to

life's worst setbacks. Hamilton was a British kart champion at ten. Yet at primary school, he was bullied. He was small, lacked confidence and felt immature. But he had great inner determination and, with support from his father. he began karate lessons. By the time he was twelve, he had a black belt.

"Yet Lewis lacked confidence and it took him years to find it. The discovery of karts, on a family holiday to Ibiza in 1988, when he was only three,

followed at home by remote-control car racing, in which he excelled, revealed a talent and fired an obsession."

Murray Walker, the almost retired FI commentator and intensely parochial Pom, almost sheds a tear when asked about Hamilton.

"I have people coming up to me all the time in my local village of Ringwood, in Hampshire, saying: "Murray, is this Lewis Hamilton as good as people say he is?" and I say: "No. He is better."

"You are supposed to be neutral, but in the end you are British. Nigel was one of us, and my mate.

So, too, Damon (Hi11) and James (Hunt). I make no apologr for getting behind them. And now we have Lewis, a boy's own hero come to life."

After winning that now famous I995 British

karting title at age ten, Hamilton approached Mclaren FI team boss Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards evening that December for an autograph, and boldly proclaimed he intended to drive for him one day.

Taken a little aback, Dennis apparently wrote

in his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then." But ciearly Dennis, his interest piqued, could not wait and signed the cheeky ladjust threeyears larer. making Hamilton (at 13) the youngest driver ever

recruited by an FI team.

"I was amazed by his self-confidence, and thought to myself that this boy can really go places." said Dennis recalling the moment.

Under Dennis's remote guidance and tutelage, Hamilton went on to dominate very race series he entered prior to 2007.

"To finish second at the end of mv first season,

rookie, in Formula One was certainly no failure, but I could not deny I felt a sense of disappointment to have gone so close to taking as a

the

title," said Hamilton, "but I had to take positives from it and look ahead to 2008. Who knows what will happen in the years to come?"

With the tribulations of that defining debut behind him, his otherwise flawless reputation slightly chipped, but his dignity firmly intact, how will Hamilton fare in 2008?

Mark Blundell, former Fl driver and Hilton Racing Ambassador, says, "The next part of the journey will be fascinating. If things pan out as we think now that Alonso has left Mclaren, then Hamilton becomes their number one. That is a new dimension again. This year he had the element of surprise. He won't have that in 2008.

Expectations are now sky high. He has to deliver in new circumstances. We are all in new territory season

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