Lewis - when life was not so frantic!

Looking through archives can reveal photographs that one can forget they had, although it made me smile when I came across this one recently.  The name on the left breast could give the game away, although it is unlikely any motor-sporting fan would not know who this was straight away..?

Believe it or not we were actually in the same race at that year's Autosport NEC event far too many years ago, and I reckon Lewis must have had the better kart, as he was able to pass me quite easily on an impossibly short bit of track - well, that's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it..!  That, and the fact that at the time I probably weighed twice as much, as the former F1 World Champion.

He was of course immensely talented even then, and he always made a point of speaking to me whenever we met, which is going to be a positive bonus in my book.  Since he made it to F1 though access has been anything but easy...

Nyck De Vries

The young chap in the middle is a Dutch racer called Nyck De Vries, and he is more destined for Formula 1 than Lewis Hamilton ever was, and Lewis' appearance at the highest level was more-or-less guaranteed!  Nyck is the complete driver, not just talented behind the wheel, but he also has a personality to match, and hence becomes a sponsor's dream.


At Zuera in Spain last week in the final round of the WSK European Championship, where Nyck sealed the title, he was knocked from pillar to post, as he was used for a bit of target practice.  He dropped down the running order, and yet by the time the chequered flag came out, he was back at the front and easing away for a very worthy victory.  And yet he did not waste too much time by unduly criticising his rivals:


"Karting is a great racing school that teaches you fair play," he said after the race.  "But you do not become a champion by pushing your opponents.  I wanted to absolutely conquer the title on my last year in karting, and now it's a 'done deal'!  Our performances have been excellent and constant throughout the four WSK rounds.  Now I want to prepare at best for the last meetings of the World KF1 Championship".  


A 'done deal' indeed - especially when not forgetting that Nyck De Vries has already been signed by the McLaren Formula 1 team for their driver development programme... and by being on a similar programme with a rival F1 team at Red Bull, it did not do a certain Sebastien Vettel any harm, did it..?  Young driver programmes are the way forward for young kart racers and Nyck is certainly on the ideal path to benefit from his link with McLaren-Mercedes


A most deserving young champion and one worth watching out for in the future.  Just do not waste any time trying to get decent odds at a bookmakers though - it seems they have cottoned on to the likely potential of this talented racer already!