Review of "Sir Lewis"

While I consider myself to be more of a NASCAR fan than F1, I am finding that books about the latter are much more interesting for reading than the former and as a result, more of my books on auto racing are falling into the F1 category.  Here is my latest F1 read on Sir Lewis Hamilton.

Title/Author:

“Sir Lewis” by Michael Sawyer

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Lewis Hamilton has won seven F1 driving titles and yet, some don’t consider that to be his greatest accomplishment.  Being the only Black driver on the F1 circuit, he had to overcome many barriers and challenges that many minority people face whenever they are striving to succeed, in sports or otherwise.  He has done gracefully, with great success and has become a strong activist for equality. How he came to this point, in both his racing and his activism, is portrayed in this excellent book by Micheal Sawyer.

 If there is any downfall to this book, it would be that for readers who follow F1 or Hamilton closely, there won’t be much new material in the book. As one who would be best considered a casual fan of F1 and only knew about Hamilton’s success with his championships, I found the book to be full of new information that I did not know about him and came away with even more respect for the man than I did before I picked up the book. The many post-race interview transcripts helped formulate this impression, but I can understand where this may be redundant for those who follow Lewis closely.

Because the book deals mostly with Hamilton’s racing and his activism, I did find it to not quite be a “biography” as it is marketed, despite covering most of Hamilton’s life.  It is clear how not only the book will read, but also how Hamilton’s life will be shaped when Sawyer writes about the sacrifices and hardships his father makes so that Lewis can race, starting in go-karts and extending until the McLaren team decided to take a chance on the young but talented driver.  Even in the go-kart level, it takes a lot of money to dedicate the proper resources to the sport, something the Hamilton family did not always have.  Add in the elitism and the racism endured by the family and it makes Lewis’ accomplishments even more astounding.

There is also a great deal of racing material in the book, especially when Lewis’ rivals such as Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso.  The latter was his teammate when Lewis was with McLaren racing and the tension between them is covered quite well.  The same can be said for the rivalry between Hamilton and Verstappen and what is most impressive is the class and humility for which Hamilton handles himself when faced with questions about his rivals.  This is true even in the case of the controversial finish of the 2021 F1 season when some questionable ruling on the final lap gave Verstappen the title over Hamilton. 

Lastly, the sections that describes Hamilton’s activism, his quotes about events such as the police shooting of Breanna Taylor and his calm demeanor that makes his statements even more powerful.  He handles this topic as skillfully and masterfully as he does a race car.  In the same manner, Sawyer handles this topic well. While his text when interjecting his own thoughts with Hamilton’s can come across as much stronger, it is written even-handedly and fairly.  For all of these reasons, this reader who wanted to learn more about Hamilton believes this is an excellent book for that endeavor.

I wish to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Sir Lewis: Sawyer, Michael: 9781538769744: Amazon.com: Books