“Arise Sir Lewis Hamilton”- Toto Wolff, Damon Hill and several others shower tributes to Lewis hamilton after being given the knighthood.
Lewis Hamilton finally is a “Sir” with him being included in the Queen’s New Year Honours list after an incredible performative year in 2020 with Mercedes.
Several of Hamilton admirers came onto sending their tribute to the 7 times World Champion, led by team principal Toto Wolff, “Lewis is one of the very greatest racing drivers of all time and the most successful British sportsperson of his era,” said the Mercedes chief.
“Around the world, he has long been recognised for his sporting achievement; this year, he combined his excellence on the track with a powerful voice to fight discrimination. In every sense, he led the way in 2020.
“The news that he is to receive a knighthood shows that he is now receiving the recognition he has earned during a career of unparalleled success in motorsport. The UK can be very proud to have a champion and ambassador of the calibre of Sir Lewis Hamilton.”
Martin Brundle, the doyen of F1 commentary also congratulated Hamilton “Congratulations to him, and very well deserved,” Brundle told Sky Sports News.
“Seven world titles he has in his pocket now equalling the great Michael Schumacher. He tops the tables in Formula 1 for most victories at 95, most pole positions at 98, most podiums at 165.”
“He’s 36 years old on January 7. Most of the young guns aiming to knock him off the pedestal are 10-15 years younger than him and he still turns up with his A-game; full of energy, pushing like crazy. If anybody in sporting terms deserves this recognition then surely it’s Sir Lewis Hamilton.”
Damon Hill, Hamilton’s compatriot and the World Champion in 1996 described Hamilton’s win as well-earned and terrific and also praised how Hamilton also gave attention to world issues.
“He is standing up for issues that are close to his heart and affect everyone, and in our sport, it’s very rare for a driver to get involved in anything that’s outside of Formula 1,” said Hill to Sky Sports.
“Lewis has said ‘this affects me, this affects every black person’. He’s stood up at a time when it could have destabilised his career, could have destabilised his concentration on the championship. So he took a huge gamble to do that, and that’s courage and that’s standing up for what you believe is right.”
“Arise Sir Lewis”- Twitter reactions
Congratulations to @LewisHamilton for his Knighthood. 7 titles in 14 years is an amazing record and his work off track in recent times has been powerful too.
Also congrats to TT ace and all round legend @jm130tt for his MBE 👏🏽👏🏽
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) December 31, 2020
Arise, Sir @LewisHamilton ⚔️ We couldn’t be prouder, LH ❤️
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 31, 2020
Richly deserved and long overdue. Congratulations Sir Lewis Hamilton – Is it ‘Knights Out & Away We Go’ from now on? :)))) https://t.co/nMJ7DDLUGk
— David Croft (@CroftyF1) December 30, 2020