The 2009 Stars Of Tomorrow
launch welcomed the attendance of Formula 1 World Champion Lewis
Hamilton, and his father Anthony Hamilton. The plan of action for
the day was for them to do a paddock walk to meet some of the Stars
drivers, and then to do a Q&A with some of the drivers.
This time it was Lewis receiving a signed photo from
young talent Trevyn-Jay Nelson
What we didn't expect was the announcement made
by Carolynn Hoy about Stars pairing up with Bernie Ecclestone to
gaining massive exposure to karting. Carolynn had this to say
“As from Monday I had meeting with Bernie
Ecclestone, and Bernie has decided to adopt the championship which
is absolutely fantastic. He has confirmed that with the events that
don’t clash with Formula 1, and we don’t clash with
very many, he will be sending his film crew down and have it televised
as well.
We will be linked to the F1 website, and we have
some very special prizes that will be given to various awards. That’s
very exciting, but it gets better. In the future, in 2010, we will
be supporting European Grand Prix. The races will happen probably
mid-week before the Grand Prix, and they will form part of the build
up to the Grand Prix. There will be a race on the Friday, and Saturday
night of the Grand Prix (as well) so as you can see there is going
to be an awful lot that’s going to be happening.
Series Organiser Carolynn Hoy with Anthony, and Lewis
Hamilton
I do hope you find it as exciting as I do.
It gets even better than that in 2011. We probably
will be supporting the International Grand Prix all around the world."
Lewis spent a massive amount of time speaking to
each and every driver in attendance in the paddock where him and
his father talked of their love for karting and reminising over
the good times. Lewis also mentioned several times how he very much
wants to get back in a kart at some point this summer.
Lewis spoke about his experience later in the day
"Seeing all the dads and the mechanics reminds me of me and
my dad. I didn't realise I was as small as you guys. All you guys
are incredible and I hope you achieve your dreams"
Lewis spoke in depth about his experiences in motor
racing
Speaking on how important education is Lewis emphasised
how important it is to maximise learning. "I was just like
all you kids, racing was the most important thing to me. I loved
racing, so I would focus on that. My parents were the ones that
pushed me most on the education side of it. It was hard because
you would have to take time off racing.
What I will say to all you youngsters is that you
may think you can go back to school, but it's not the case. You
can always come back to racing, there's always time for racing.
When you get to my age it's better that you know more. When you're
in my position it's about communication, it's about how to explain
yourself to your engineer - understanding what's going on"
Training before a race is very important and Lewis
explained in detail how he prepares. "We're training pretty
hard. Even today I'll be heading back and doing some physical training.
For us now, we do around 9 full days of physical training, and usually
we will do around 2 to 3 sessions a day. We do a 4 or 5 hour bike
ride. We do a good hour and a half in the gym, and then we go and
play some tennis or something like that. Along that way I am eating
eating and eating.
Lewis Hamilton with 2008 Cadet Champion Roy Johnson
For the race week, I don't usually train. Maybe
on the Monday I will do some short sprints. Something to keep you
sharp. Otherwise it's just the same focus keeping in mind what I've
got to do that weekend, and also focussing on what set up I need,
what gears for each corner, what downforce levels to run.
At the end of the day you want to be beating everyone,
and the great thing is that you can arrive at the track knowing
that you're the best prepared. Knowing that no one else there has
been doing the training you've been doing at 7am, or sitting down
and doing a report understanding the car more.
Also it's about being relaxed. For me I want to
say I really appreciate the support I have from all of you today.
You wouldn't believe it, but I arrive and I am a bit nervous to
meet all of you because it's always a new experience. Coming back
to the good ol' days seeing all the young karters and everything.
But then to have all the positive energy from all of you, it makes
a huge difference to me. I will go back buzzing, I hope you do as
well.
Along with the highs Lewis has had some lows in
his career. This is why he felt the lows are just as important as
the highs. "There's been a lot of lows in my career. I think
the wins are not so important, obviously they are important to your
confidence, but I think it was the lows that were most important.
It's where I learnt the most. When I was at the back of the grid
coming to the front that's where I learnt to overtake. It's really
character building.
There's always another day. That's something my
brother always taught me. With a disability when growing up my brother
couldn't do all the things I could do, but do you know what - he
falls over and gets back up and keeps trying, and that's the same
thing you should always do (looking towards young drivers)"
Part
2 - Formula Kart Stars Launch with Lewis and Anthony Hamilton>>
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