Lewis Hamilton said that he would be honored to be recognized with a knighthood after winning his fourth Formula 1 world championship at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday to "become Britain’s most successful racing driver," according to Giles Richards of the London GUARDIAN. The 32-year-old also "insisted that despite some debate over his potential retirement," he was going to "continue to race for some time" and that he was "close to concluding a new deal with Mercedes and targeting further titles." In securing his fourth championship, Hamilton moved one clear of Jackie Stewart. Stewart was knighted in '01 but "recently the trend has been for successful athletes to be given the honour while still competing." Andy Murray and Mo Farah were knighted in the '17 new year list. Hamilton received an MBE in '09 but said that he would "very much welcome further recognition" (GUARDIAN, 10/30). In London, Matt Dickinson wrote his records and trophies "tell of his sporting stature but perhaps a more immediate, tangible way of appreciating Hamilton -- particularly for those who do not naturally warm to him -- is to imagine how much weaker the sport would have been without his presence on the grid through this past decade." Call it a "partisan appeal" (Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has won four championships) but, "for many of us, Hamilton is the man who has given the sport some much-needed edge, a reason to watch during some distinctly non-vintage years when our attention has waxed and more frequently waned." There is "no denying that he is provocatively box office in a sport constantly in need of fresh allure to attract those who find only limited appeal in the latest tweaks" to wing design and tire regulations. When he first came into the sport, Hamilton said of the constraints, "You have to be a square and fit into a box -- and the shape is 'boring as f***.' Don't do anything but live and breathe racing. Don't enjoy, don't smile" (LONDON TIMES, 10/30).
