"I couldn’t be Superman, but that was like your cloak"- Lewis Hamilton recalls how karting in childhood days helped him tackle racism

Lewis Hamilton fondly talked about how karting was somewhat akin to an escape for him from the inherently racist world.

The Briton felt that once he had his overalls and his helmet on, there was nothing that separated him from everyone else as his skin color was not visible making him just like any other kart racer on the grid. The seven-time world champion's interview with Vanity Fair has seen the driver open up about a lot of things from his time growing up to his career today.

The Mercedes driver fondly talked about the first time he wore the helmet as he compared it to the cloak of the fictional superhero Superman. He said:

“Firstly, it’s like having a superpower. I couldn’t be Superman, but that was like your cloak. When I got in the car, I put a helmet on, and I wasn’t seen any different. You can’t see my skin color. You just see me as a driver. And I was able to do things that others weren’t able to do. And it didn’t matter how big the other kids were, I could still beat them.”

Lewis Hamilton's racing career ultimately took off when he was 13 years of age after Ron Dennis brought him under his wing with the McLaren Junior Driver Development Program. It was through this program that Hamilton ultimately made his way through the categories to find himself in F1 in the 2007 season where he almost won the title.

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Lewis Hamilton on the anguish that 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP caused him

In the aforementioned interview, Lewis Hamilton also spoke about the anguish that the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP caused him. The race director's decision to innocuously let only a few cars unlap so that there could be racing in the end ultimately resulted in the Mercedes driver losing the title.

Reminiscing on the incident, Hamilton shared the horror when the entire situation unfolded in front of him. He said:

“You can see it’s starting to unfold in a way. My worst fears came alive. I thought ‘no way’ they’re going to take this away from me. Absolutely not. That’s not going to happen. Right? I can’t describe in words how I felt. I can remember sitting there in my car, in disbelief.”

Hamilton further described the anguish he had to go through as he still had to attend the podium ceremony, saying:

“Then I realized I had to take off my seat belt, get out of there, get out of the car, find strength. I didn’t have it. It was one of my toughest moments in a long, long time. I knew what had happened, I knew certain decisions had been made and why. I knew something was not right. I wondered if I wanted to continue.”

The way the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP ended would certainly be described as one of the worst possible ways to end such a fantastic season.