Lewis Hamilton told to ‘stop crying’ as ex-F1 driver disputes Mercedes ace’s complaints
Lewis Hamilton is looking to end a two-year winless streak when the 2024 season gets underway in Bahrain.
Former F1 driver Perry McCarthy has claimed that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton needs to ‘stop moaning’ about the lack of opportunities he has had during his motorsport career. The Mercedes ace has been urged to appreciate the benefit that Ron Dennis’ support provided him during his feeder series journey.
Hamilton’s route to F1 is one of the most notable on the current grid. The legendary Brit grew up in a working-class family in Stevenage and his father Anthony worked as many as four jobs at a time to support his son through the karting and junior series ranks.
He also enjoyed a close relationship with Ron Dennis. After meeting him at the Autosport Awards off the back of his British karting championship triumph, a ten-year-old Hamilton asked for an autograph and to drive one of his cars in the future. The McLaren boss wrote back: “Phone me in nine years, we’ll sort something out then.”
A couple of years later following more success, Hamilton was signed to the McLaren driver development programme with a contract that included a pathway to an F1 seat. After winning the GP2 series - now rebranded to Formula Two - he was promoted into motorsport’s premier open-wheel series for the 2007 season, and the rest is history.
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McCarthy - who entered 10 Grands Prix with the ill-fated Andrea Moda team in 1992 but failed to start a race - told EssentiallySports: “Lewis shouldn’t cry too much about lack of support because he had something that a lot of people would’ve dreamed of having. That was something like Ron Dennis, the head of McLaren, coming and believing in you.
“Now what Lewis did do is he repaid that belief at every single stage because Lewis is and was brilliant, that was it. So Lewis had the chance and he strangled that chance with every shred of his soul, so he repaid. But Lewis shouldn’t talk too much about lack of opportunities.”
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Since establishing himself as one of the all-time greats in F1, Hamilton has devoted his time to fighting racism and discrimination, as well as providing more opportunities for underrepresented communities to find employment and opportunities in the world of motorsport.
The 39-year-old started the development of The Hamilton Commission in 2019 to find ways that the sport can promote greater diversity in STEM subjects throughout the schooling system, and his Mission 44 charity - formed off the back of the report - helps children from underrepresented backgrounds achieve their goals in wider society.