Talk:Lewis Hamilton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article must adhere to the policy on biographies of living persons. Controversial material of any kind that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous. If such material is repeatedly inserted or there are other concerns relative to this policy, report it on the living persons biographies noticeboard.

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.	Biography Portal
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the Project's quality scale. [FAQ] (If you rated the article, please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
	This article is supported by the Sports and games work group.

This article is part of WikiProject British Motorsport, an attempt to improve and standardize articles related to Motorsport in the United Kingdom. Consult the project page for further information.

	This article is part of a parent project - WikiProject Motorsport - which brings together motorsport-related WikiProjects. It aims to co-ordinate the projects and improve the common aspects of various categories of motorsport. Consult the project page for further information. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

	This article is part of WikiProject Formula One, an attempt to improve and standardize articles related to Formula One, including drivers, teams and constructors, events and history. Feel free to join the project and help with any of the tasks or consult the project page for further information. View the task list Discuss the project Help out with Portal:Formula One
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale.

Contents 1 Huge Edit 2 Hairline 3 Place of Birth 4 Stub 5 Family History 6 First Black? 7 Final? 8 Formula 1 Section

[edit] Huge Edit

I am planning to complete re-do this page with as much information as possible, Lewis Hamilton is my stepmothers brother so I can receive information from her and also Lewis' mother. Perry 21:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Al Right, if anyone hasn't seen this...then DO SO!! [1] --Skully Collins 11:45, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hairline

Anyone know what's going on with that hairline of his? Does he shave it?! Damiancorrigan 12:18, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Place of Birth

Someone has changed his POB to Tewin. He was in fact born and bred in nearby Stevenage, but currently lives in Tewin. Perry 21:16, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

His biography (http://www.mclaren.com/theteam/lewis_hamilton_biography.php) says he was born in Tewin. — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 23:13, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

It does. BBC and Yahoo say Stevenage. --Scott Davis ^Talk 08:44, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Interesting. How do we know which is correct? — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 15:31, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Lewis is my stepmum's brother, and while that is not valid proof, I can assure you that while currently residing in Tewin, he was brought up in Stevenage, hopefully some valid information can come through soon. Oh well it doesn't matter really, it's just a shame that so many articles contradict one another. Perry 12:50, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I've cited Stevenage, using Reuters as reference (BBC Caribbean has him "from Stevenage"), since there is no hospital described in Tewin (but the telephone box is mentioned), Stevenage is a more likely birthplace. --Scott Davis ^Talk 13:58, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

It's possible he was born at home. I would have thought the hospital at Welwyn Garden City is closer anyway. — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 12:35, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Could be - looking at Google maps, they're all only about 10 km apart - hardly worth arguing over. At the moment the lead says one thing and the detail another, with {{dubious}} next to it, but that's the one that's cited! Anyone from England who can go over and knock on the door and ask? We have reliable references for both, so we might as well pick the right one. --Scott Davis ^Talk 11:39, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

I live in Stevenage so I could... but it would be original research! And anyway, we already have a bit of original research above! — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 23:48, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

We have reliable references for two different places of birth - do you know what we're supposed to do to avoid WP:OR in this case? --Scott Davis ^Talk 02:32, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't know. Maybe list both on the article? — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 15:28, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Stub

Is it time to upgrade this from 'stub' to full article? Fasterthansound 01:50, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

A stub is a short article that can be expanded. As it's no longer a short article, I've removed the stub templates. — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 03:05, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Family History

This article states that Hamilton's parents came to the UK from the West Indies in the 1950s. I suspect this should read "his father's parents", since Lewis's mother is white. Bretonbanquet 19:00, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

References are conflicting: Grandfather, father's parents, paternal grandparents, grandfather lives in the western parish of St John's, grandparents emigrated from the Caribbean island of Grenada, parents emigrated in the 1950s. --Scott Davis ^Talk 08:44, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

God. Though I think it's fair to say it's clear that it can't have been his parents since his mother doesn't come from there - his father maybe, or his father's parents, but not both Lewis' parents. Bretonbanquet 20:20, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The dates make it unlikely that his "parents" emigrated, as they would have been toddlers at best in the 1950s, which appears to be the universally accepted date. I've cited BBC Caribbean, but the Reuters reference just before also supports that his father's parents emigrated. Perry, do you know whether his grandfather (your step-grandfather?) moved back to Grenada or never left it (nationnews.com link above)? --Scott Davis ^Talk 14:05, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] First Black?

Hamilton will be the first black driver to compete in Formula 1

Is this really correct to say? He isn't only black, but half-black and half-white. He is certainly not the first mixed gent to race in F1. Would it be more proper to perhaps say he is the first with some black ancestry, though I don't know if that is even really true. You'd have to research that no previous F1 driver has some African blood?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.109.183.214 (talk) 07:19, 23 December 2006 (UTC).

The sources say he will be the first black driver to race in F1, although they do not agree on the finer details of his ancestry. If you have reliable sources to cite that say something different, it's certainly reasonable to present a cited view that he's not black according to some people. To completely remove the claim that he's black, we'd probably need retractions from the same sources that said he is (or we could change it to "He was initially reported to be ..."). I write this with the assumption that The Independent is considered reliable. --Scott Davis ^Talk 11:19, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Right, I follow you on the sourcing bit, etc, etc. Note that I am not suggesting to remove the claim that he's black -- but stating here that he is only black (which that sentence implies) is incorrect and is unfair to his ancestors. So here we are in a bit of a bind then, because there are plenty of references that tell us what his ethnicity is; then we have an article from reliable The Independent that says he is the "first black"; as you point out. Maybe it would be best if there weren't such trivial things said in the first place and simply kept the discussion to the individual, but that is another debate. :-) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.109.181.210 (talk) 02:23, 24 December 2006 (UTC).

I agree, but "first black..." is going to reported in the news at least until after he is "first black F1 champion", and probably until there are several "black" drivers. Maybe Lewis Hamilton will stop being "first black..." when someone with no "white" blood gets there. --Scott Davis ^Talk 04:06, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

It's the ignorant media, it can't be helped. And unfortunately, this website operates by, "verifiability and not truth." Which I think is complete bullcrap. Shakam 06:47, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

How about "He will be the first driver with prominent African or Caribbean ancestry to compete in Formula One?". Incidentally, there have been many Japanese drivers, a Thai prince, an Indian and a Malaysia of Chinese and English descent, but nobody of even vaguely Afro-Caribbean appearance or known ancestry, no matter how small. I guess calling him 'black' has an element of one-drop-rule type thinking, which should've died out a long time ago.--MartinUK 23:54, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I like the sentence you have come up with actually, though I'd probably leave out the Caribbean bit. As far as African ancestry goes, are there no drivers from the Americas or France that have some African blood? Senna, Montoya, etc.?

JPM is possible, although I'd say native American descent is more likely. Senna is a long shot at best. The only other dark-looking competitive F1 driver I can think of is Clay Regazzoni.--MartinUK 22:56, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

Hey, if you go far enough back we're all of African descent (See Homo ergaster!). Isn't Afro-Caribbean the normal UK terminology (used on census forms and the like) in the UK? HIs ancestry isn't directly from Africa, going by the references. 4u1e 19:08, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

The available references say "black". They don't actually indicate that his paternal grandfather was "completely" black, or whether any of his other grandparents were of "Afro-Caribbean descent". For that matter, they don't actually say that his grandfather was Afro-Caribbean rather than native Caribbean (Indo-American) either. We don't have access to his complete pedigree, so must make do with what we have. --Scott Davis ^Talk 21:50, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

That's why I tend not to get too excited about 'of XXXX descent' categories. On the assumption that I'm fairly typical, few of us have much idea of who our ancestors were more than 2 or 3 generations back, and appearance isn't much to go on. The number of ancestors gets very big very quickly as you go back, so if you go looking you'll probably find ancestors from some quite unexpected backgrounds without too much trouble. Unless there's a general Wikipedia policy on 'ethnic' terminology, you're right - go with what the references say. Cheers. 4u1e 08:32, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

He doesn't even look black, unless you live in America though. Shakam 20:36, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Final?

On the table on the bottom of the page, it says the "Final" Standings for his 2007 F1 series is third place. Only one race has taken place, so it is not final at all. Should this be fixed? Downatball5432 13:58, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Or perhaps put in an asterix and "up to round 1" etc... Fasterthansound 22:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Formula 1 Section

The information partaining to Hamilton's performance in the Australian GP '07 is given in the 'Formula 1' section, and then repeated in the '2007 Onward: McLaren' subsection. Am I the only one to notice this?