GREATER NOIDA: At the end of the day, Anthony Hamilton, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton’s dad, only wanted his son to become a good human being. And Anthony is proud of his son today.
“I never made him a F1 driver. All that I did was to give him what I myself did not get in my childhood. I knew the pain, the suffering and I did not want Lewis to suffer. Sometimes I did three jobs to make ends meet and supported him. He was interested in driving and worked his way up to be where he is now. I never made him a F1 driver,” said the down-to-earth Anthony in a chat with the Express at the BIC.
Anthony also was Lewis’ manager for long but now manages Force India driver Paul Di Resta. “I am from the West Indies, Grenada in fact. We emigrated to the UK in the 1950s. At that time, there were not many blacks in England and life was tough in many ways. Added to that my father was a hard taskmaster. He always had the belt or the stick in hand. I might have cursed him then but I am grateful to him now. It taught me to be honest, sincere and to work hard. And I did my best to ensure that Lewis got the best of everything and at the same time remained disciplined,” Anthony said.
“I bought him a radio-controlled car in 1991 which gave him a lot of thrill and enjoyment. I then bought him a go-kart as a Christmas present when he was six. That’s how he got into motorsports. I told him that I would support his racing interests as long as he worked hard at school,” said Anthony. “Tried to ingrain a sense of responsibility and self-respect,” he added.
“I knew he had it in him. And I contacted Blue Peter in 1991 and told him that a six year-old boy is dominating the adults in a remote-controlled karting championship and he would turn out to be a champion,” Anthony revealed.
Asked how he manages to identify talent at a young age, Anthony said “one’s commitment gives him away.”
“Only skills are not enough, you need to be committed. That is evident when you work with such boys. At the moment I have been involved in spotting talent for Force India. I can tell you that, though I will not reveal the name, you have a 11-year-old boy who has a lot of potential and will be heard of,” said Anthony.
“You cannot get a driver-manager degree in any university. Man-management skills must be learnt and perhaps those who have come up the hard way make the best managers.”
Talking about the Indian GP, Anthony said it was great for the sport. About some British newspapers critical of the event being held in India despite large sections living below the poverty line, Anthony said that situation exists in many countries.
“There are the lucky and the not-so-lucky ones everywhere. The struggle to move up the ladder is what counts. As long as that is done with honesty, it must be okay,” said Anthony.