Before we get to the meat of this story, here’s a quick prediction: This could be a wild British GP. Why? Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton all seem extra intent on winning this weekend. That might mean some fireworks.
The other place where we could see fireworks, or I guess, shouldn’t be seeing them, is around McLaren’s championship leading driver, Lewis Hamilton. He apparently has reached out to his estranged father and invited Anthony Hamilton to the race.
The duo famously split at the beginning of the season after dad had managed son’s career. Now, Hamilton the younger is handling his own affairs. Anthony hasn’t been to a single race yet.
That could change in a few days, according to the Mirror:
“I think he’s coming. I’ve invited him,” said Hamilton.
“It’s nice for him and nice for me that he’s coming. I’ve got grandstand tickets so he can choose whether to be in the paddock or experience something different.
“He’s always watched it in the paddock but it sucks to be a spectator in the paddock.
“In Montreal I had some of my family in the grandstand at Turn One and they had the best experience, so hopefully he might watch it from there.”
[snip]
“We’re continuing to build on the relationship and things are moving slowly,” added Hamilton.
“We’re letting things take their time and move progressively and move naturally rather than forcing things. It’s generally positive. He’s always sending me positive messages before the race and we spoke before Montreal.”
And the famous handshake from the cockpit just before the start that united the duo for nearly two decades might be back on again.
“If he happens to be on the grid then it would be great,” said Hamilton. “It will always be something special but I think right now the way things are work very well for me.”
“I’m pretty much managing myself now – taking the reins and controlling things. Bit by bit I’ve understood various things I didn’t understand before.”
But he ruled out carrying on that way. “It’s better to have someone else doing that from outside to enable me to focus and enjoy my life and work on being the best.”
We’ve debated plenty here whether Lewis should have gotten rid of his dad as a manager (I think most have said, “Yes,” to that) and whether Lewis needs to have a replacement (again, a pretty resounding “Yes). We’ll see if he moves anywhere toward that; Mark could tell us how much media spotlight Sebastian Vettel has to cope with from the British media, but Lewis certainly has more than his share of English-language media attention (and non-English). He probably could use someone to help manage things.
For instance, he might have been best off stopping his answer to the question, “Hey! Lewis!? Is your dad going to be at the race?” with a “‘I’ve invited him.” Maybe, maybe, he could have followed-up the “Do you think he’ll come?” with a “We’ll see.”
But nothing more. There are way too many Lewis quotes on this subject in this story.
And none from Anthony. Hmmm.
Anyway, I’m posting this so everyone can prepare to see Anthony camera shots if Lewis’ dad does appear at Silverstone. We’re here, looking out for you!
