Monday 24 November 2014

Will Lewis Hamilton Ever Be Liked By Us Brits?

While Britain is not falling over sporting champions, when one does come along we seem to go off them pretty quick or in the case of Lewis Hamilton, not think much of him in the first place.
I would assume that Hamilton and his achievement of becoming the first British racing driver in over 40 years to win the Formula One drivers Championship twice has been greeted with lukewarm appreciation by the British public is because he comes across as a bit of an arrogant tosser.
As if arrogance is not enough of a red line to the British, include the fact that as soon as he began making some serious money he turned tax exile in Monaco and he not only crossed the line, he vaulted it so it isn't surprising that the British public has not taken Hamilton to heart.
Something the British can't stand is a show off and Hamilton with his sparkling diamond earring, pop star girlfriend and red carpet lifestyle almost guarantees that Hamilton will not be picking up any Sports Personality of The Year Awards when they are handed out next month.  
Stirling Moss touched on the subject the day after Hamilton's triumph when he said 'He’s whatever you call those superstars. And that’s not really the way we English go. We’re more reserved.'
Hamilton may well get the recognition for being the best in his sport, even one as boring as F1, but it is unlikely that he will ever gain national acceptance until he does things the 'British' way, whatever that is.

7 comments:

Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
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Cheezy said...

I can see why others might view it that way... My perspective is that you just have a dry sense of humour and a working knowledge of irony and you’ll be fine here. You can be a total winner and still be loved, but you can’t be too ‘vanilla’. You need a twinkle in your eye, like Bradley Wiggins.

That said, this is the world of sport, so most of the protagonists are bound to be slightly dull. So I definitely wouldn’t discount Hamilton winning the BBC Sport Personality award this year. He was runner up when Calzaghe won it a few years ago, as I recall.

Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...

I would say the first of the three is the most important here q, be humble and modest but don't big yourself up and that is in anything, we don't like a show-off.

My money would be on Rory Mcilroy to take it Cheezy, Hamilton just doesn't seem very likeable, the Andy Murray syndrome. Mcilroy has that cheeky chappie air about him everyone seems to like.

Cheezy said...

If he's got the 'Andy Murray syndrome' then he might win it, as Murray himself did last year :)

Actually I think both McIlroy and Hamilton are fairly dull, whereas I like Andy Murray, he treats stupid questions with the contempt they deserve.

Q- Hello. Yes, it's been a while. I hope everyone's having fun.

Lucy said...

Unless it has been all a Dallas style Bobby Ewing in the shower moment, he did win it! If it is all a Bobby Ewing style moment i'm off to the Bookies to bet on a Hamilton win and Man City to win 3-2 against Bayern Munich.

Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
This comment has been removed by the author.