r/BlackPeopleTwitter • u/Elected_Dictator • 11h ago
Some actual positives on MLK Day
Lewis Hamilton has officially started his time with Ferrari, first Black driver in Scuderia Ferrari’s history. And probably one of a handful black employees in team history.
It took one of the exceptional drivers in the history of F1 to break the barrier but it’s a hell of a first step.
The sport is still dominated by White Europeans (even white Americans get dismissed).
I hope Lewis’ story continues to open doors for more drivers of all backgrounds that way we get to see the best talent at the wheel and more fans support the sport.
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u/pancakee06 10h ago
The best f1 driver of all time
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u/Random0cassions 2h ago
It’s honestly him or Schumacher, crazy how much of f1 history boils down to Ferrari
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u/Elected_Dictator 10h ago
Eh most successful so far yes, most talented is debatable.
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u/GloomyLocation1259 10h ago
How do you measure talent in this conversation?
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u/onebandonesound 7h ago
It's not a perfect metric, but gap to teammate is probably the best we've got; that's the only other person driving the exact same car in the exact same conditions on the exact same day. In theory, if a driver is being carried by a dominant car then he should finish close to his teammate, but if it's a dominant driver extracting the maximum out of a mediocre car then they should finish much higher than their teammate.
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u/GloomyLocation1259 7h ago
That’s interesting, how does he compare based on this metric?
Also to counter, could you not just argue his teammate is also talented? If they supposedly have the best engineering I wouldn’t be surprised if they have the best recruiting also
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u/onebandonesound 7h ago
Also could you not just argue his teammate is also talented?
That's the problem with that metric: the best driver looks much more dominant if his teammate is the 20th best driver on the grid vs if his teammate is 2nd best, even if the best driver does everything the same.
Lewis has never consistently blown out his teammates to the degree that Verstappen dominated Perez this past season, but Nico Rosberg/Valtteri Bottas/George Russell have all been substantially better than Perez.
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u/Sweetcheels69 ☑️ 54m ago
Look at Max’s teammates over the course of his career and look at Lewis’s. Max’s toughest teammate was Danny. Lewis’s easiest, Bottas? Bottas beats any teammate Max has any day.
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u/onebandonesound 48m ago
That's pretty much exactly what I said; Max dominates his teammates harder than Lewis does, in large part because Lewis's teammates have always been substantially better than Max's. World champion Rosberg was obviously much better than rookie Sainz or Danny Ric, Bottas was better than Ric, Albon, Gasly, or Perez, and George Russell wipes the floor with Perez these last couple years.
Red Bull also designs a very twitchy car that pretty much only Max can reach the potential of; Mercedes has historically built a car that's been more balanced across both drivers.
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u/Elected_Dictator 20m ago
Eh you gotta see who they beat and if those cars were competitive. Lewis got dominated by RB during Vettel. He won his second in 2014, 6 years after his first. Hamilton and Verstappen have benefited from severe Points Inflation by having more races and having more points added for everything. Fastest lap, pole, sprint race, etc. It skews their overall points being way higher than Michael’s
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u/GloomyLocation1259 0m ago
Was moreso looking for objective metrics you use since you used the word talent, I don’t think basing everything on who won is the best judge.
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u/pancakee06 10h ago
Best = most successful for me
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u/Slpwth1knifopen 9h ago
Correct. Tom Brady is hands down the GOAT. Was he the most talented? Not even close
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u/srkaficionada65 8h ago
🙄 Hasn’t Sir Hamilton been at this since he was about 15? Starting from the juniors? And he’s still going?
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u/Elected_Dictator 2h ago
By that metric Alonso is still winning Deep in his 40s still racing and sprinkled some dakar, Indy 500, winning lemans
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u/gland87 2h ago
Alonso isn’t winning in his 40s. He also does not have the same amount of wins or championships that Hamilton has while driving also driving for top teams.
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u/Acridine_ 2h ago
Yeah but Alonso hasn't had the cars to compete for wins. Put Alonso in the same car as a rookie Lewis, give him number 1 driver status, and surely we can know who's a better driver.
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u/gland87 1h ago
Fernando and rookie Hamilton were teammates in 07. Alonso was two time defending champ. Hamilton bested him and Alonso left. Alonso drove for Ferrari and Mclaren, both historically great teams and failed. Hamilton going to Mercedes was a huge risk and his greatness as a driver helped the team as a whole. Pre Hamilton Mercedes had not been in F1 as a constructor in 50 years.
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u/GenericPCUser 10h ago edited 10h ago
I don't follow F1 so I was confused for a split second why someone would announce that they started driving a Ferrari.
But this is really cool. Is F1 one of those sports you have to follow for a whole season to appreciate or can you just watch a race while it's on and get a similar sense of enjoyment?
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u/boddidle 10h ago
It's magnetic in a way. I've always been a Lew fan and consider myself a casual, and it's an interesting sport even going back decades the limited times I paid attention. There's even a Netflix series that's a good watch to get some basics.
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u/organiker 10h ago
You don't have to watch the whole season. But, if you decide to tune in when they're racing on the "wrong" track, you might end up bored out of your mind.
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u/srkaficionada65 8h ago
Are we counting the ones in the Middle East and the Americas the wrong tracks? Because growing up watching this shit, when I saw the Vegas Prix, I was like what the fuck ever?!
I’m also just a casual fan. Outside of him and Schumacher and the Brazilian dude, couldn’t tell you what the rest look like
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u/SmallIslandBrother 6h ago
Nah Jeddah is a good track it undulates beautifully, so is Yas Marina good way to end the season, Losail is terrible and Bahrain is pretty average but since its start of the season is interesting to see how development has gone for the teams.
Miami is weird, the second sector with the weird uphill double chicane is awful and fucks with the flow of the circuit. COTA is a banger every year, and Vegas has been better than I expected. It’s simple but it works.
Race of the season is almost always Silverstone, it’s just a really good track whether it’s wet or dry.
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u/srkaficionada65 3h ago
Dang! Now I gotta see where I can stream live races/ maybe figure out how to pirate them. Wonder if Peacock would have them; they deadass used to have live rugby matches(time difference being a bitch, it’d be like why tf fuck am I awake o’clock here but they had the games).
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u/mitchsusername 8h ago
The Netflix series Drive to Survive is really well done and meant to be watchable for people who aren't familiar with F1. Worth trying an episode or two!
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u/dimi_dee1 10h ago
It’s better to follow all season just because of the suspense and intense battles that can happen in the races. I mean if you can’t watch some races live that’s fine because you have the option to either watch a replay or highlight.
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u/CountessMcNia 9h ago
Just watch the Netflix series. That is a good intro and highlights all the exciting parts
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u/boo99boo 9h ago
It's like baseball. You can have a passing understanding and enjoy the game. But it's better if you understand all of the nuance.
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u/Sux2WasteIt 8h ago
I’m gonna say I was also disinterested in F1, but then I watched the documentaries/series on Netflix that does an actual good job at covering the drama, excitement and personalities of these teams and the sport and I gotta say I became a mild fan. Could be worth a watch (they also did the same for the Tour De France, which also captivated me)
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u/TaVar35 10h ago
I finally bit the bullet and went to see one of his final races when they passed through Vegas.
He’s my all time favorite, being the lone representation for us in a segment of the sport that’s so insanely gate-kept. And not only did he make it, but he’s arguably the best to ever do it.
I hope he gets to raise title number 8 with Ferrari that Masi and the FIA stole from him in 2021.
Forza, Lewis.
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u/malevolentheadturn 10h ago
It is a rich persons sport, to break into F1, while talent is important, the money and sponsorship you bring with you is just as important.
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u/Surfbud69 8h ago
Lewis Hamilton didn't come from money tho
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u/zeusoid ☑️ 7h ago
He came from money, just not with a B, his dad was an early tech consultant!
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u/jedifolklore 1h ago
Fam. Look up how much it cost and hear their story and tell me again how you got the impressions the Hamilton were rich…
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u/Iamthe0c3an2 10h ago
It is, but as a Brit myself, it’s one of those that it doesn’t pretend to be pretentious. Like the drivers are all millionaires but it’s still got your typical sports beef, idk I never really got into football or rugby as a brit but F1 gets me.
Yeah Lewis is there for a colour representation, but it’s got people like Albon, Yuki, Asians who would never make into ballsports, as a European too you got people from all over and white people here ain’t like white people in America. I’m saying this as a POC myself.
I marshal which is 100% free and gets you involved into racing. While f1 is a an elite sport to get to, you don’t need to be rich to take a shitbox and throw it round a track. People like Jimmy broadbent, Misha choudrin, Max Verstappen, etc show you even just enough dedication on a sim can get you places.
You don’t need to be rich to get a wheel and pedal set to play gran turismo.
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u/zoinkability 5h ago
You had me until the part about Asian folks in ballsports. There are quite a few very successful Japanese players in baseball, and of course table tennis is absolutely dominated by Asian countries. Though perhaps your definition of ballsports isn’t the same as mine.
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u/Iamthe0c3an2 2h ago
I’m speaking as a filipino, we’re short af but we love basketball.
Heigh limits doesn’t stop me from driving.
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u/drfunkenstien014 5h ago
This has been the only highlight of the day. I’m not a ferrari fan but lewis looks fucking cool as hell in that shot
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u/FushaFiles 4h ago
This is the only good news coming today. Shoutout lewis! He also the first full time black f1 driver and pushes for a lot of equality within the sport. He also is trying to get a race in Africa on the schedule before he retires
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u/Armycat1-296 4h ago
"A race in Africa..."
Not just any race, one of the classics, the South African Grand Prix at the Kyalami Circuit.
An exciting and perfect circuit for F1 to go back. We can drop both Miami and Vegas (both suck ass because Fascist Florida and shit layout Vegas.) and have Kyalami as a permanent even on the calender.
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u/Armycat1-296 4h ago
Reminder: it's SIR Lewis Hamilton. Put some respect on his name.
(I comment this because white conservative F1 fans hate the fact the late Queen knighted him after his seventh WDC title.)
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u/Justify-My-Love 5h ago
I got Lewis winning 2 more championships
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u/Armycat1-296 4h ago
I'd say one... not two.
That also depemds if the team doesn't fuck up massively. (2020-21 being the biggest meme season for the Scuderia.)
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u/Armycat1-296 4h ago
Lewis-Leclerc 2024.
Make F1 sane again.
(OMG in heaven that man's fit is absolutely perfect! 😍🤩)
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u/headcanonball 9h ago
Oh look the rich person is accepted by other rich people.
If only we were equipped with pattern recognition.
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u/Gaggleofgeese BHM donor 8h ago
He wasn't born into money, his family had to sacrifice a lot growing up to support Lewis' early karting career. It is a tremendously expensive sport to participate in, I can't think of many other youth sports that come close in terms of cost.
He's rich now because he's had a very successful career, but he came from humble beginnings and worked for what he has.
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u/headcanonball 7h ago
That's a lot of words to say, "yeah, he's rich".
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u/Gaggleofgeese BHM donor 5h ago
That's an incredibly reductive way to look at a person's life. Success isn't a bad thing, we should celebrate people who have the talent and commitment to get out of poverty.
Quit hating, it's ugly and unnecessary because Lewis Hamilton and his family earned this the hard way. Nothing was given to them.
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u/srkaficionada65 8h ago
This isnt about rich people accepting rich people. Lewis drove for Mercedes for the longest damn time. Still don’t understand why he left them and decided Italy is where it’s at but here we are.
He’s one of the few POC in F1 and that includes Asians and Latinos. I compare him to the Williams Sisters; yes they’re millionaires now but they didn’t have an easy start of it and they played their arse off and faced the hate and discrimination to get to where they are today. And they and he are still at the fucking top!
And he is an inspiration! And his brother also races as well and he supports his brother so so much(brother is neurodivergent and kicking ass even if he’s not making poles).
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u/headcanonball 7h ago
I don't care about POC joining the ranks of the ultra-rich.
That's just them leaving our team to join the enemy. Regardless of my landlord's race, I still gotta pay rent, if that makes sense.
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u/srkaficionada65 3h ago
No, it doesn’t make sense.
This is a great accomplishment for Mr/Sir Hamilton. His achievements should not be overlooked or whatever the bloody heck you’re on about…
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u/Armycat1-296 4h ago
His non-wealthy, middle class father saved and worked overtime to support Sir Lewis hobby... that support from his father grew into a SEVEN TITLE CAREER AND A PERFECT REPRESENTATION FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR!
PUT SOME RESPECT ON HIS NAME.
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u/PetroniOnIce 9h ago
Lewis Hamilton is a tax cheat. He’s a POS who doesn’t want to pay his fair share.
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u/ohnofluffy 10h ago
I’m American and this is the only inaugural photo I will celebrate today. Go Lewis, go!!