Motor Racing: F1 champion Hamilton gets royal seal of approval
Posted: 05 November 2008 2305 hrs

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LONDON: Lewis Hamilton's achievement in winning the Formula One World Championship has been recognised by a letter of commendation from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

The 23-year-old Englishman became the youngest champion in the sport's history when, after finishing fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, he took the title by just a point from race-winner and local hero Felipe Massa.

"To Lewis Hamilton Esquire, I'm delighted that you succeeded in winning the Formula One World Championship to become the youngest-ever champion," the Queen wrote.

"I send you my warmest congratulations on your remarkable and historic achievement.

"Elizabeth R."

Hamilton himself returned in triumph on Wednesday to the headquarters of his McLaren team in Woking, south-west of London, to thank the huge back-up team behind his success.

More than 1,000 McLaren employees greeted him as he drove in at the wheel of a Formula One car.

"I'm shaking like a leaf here. I've never seen you all before in one place," Hamilton, who has only been a Grand Prix driver for two seasons, said. "I am standing here today to say a big thank you to all of you including the people who work here on the night shift and weekends when I don't see all of you."

Hamilton, first spotted by McLaren boss Ron Dennis when he was still a boy go-kart racer, re-affirmed his commitment to the British team.

Standing behind an array of silverware won during his brief Formula One career, he said: "We have proved to everyone that we are the best team and we have the best car.

"These trophies are a result of all your hard work and you should pat yourselves on the back.

"I love this team. I'm not going anywhere," Hamilton, the first black racer to take the drivers' title added.

Earlier, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said Hamilton deserved greater recognition for his feat of becoming world champion at such a young age, saying it was unfair to criticise the drive for being arrogant.

"Hamilton is a young man doing his best and I get upset with people who say he is an arrogant bastard and all this nonsense. Lewis has achieved an awful lot," Ecclestone told Wednedsay's edition of The Times newspaper.

"I think he comes over as a bit over-confident but don't forget they said the same about (now retired seven-times champion) Michael (Schumacher)."

British lawmakers also praised Hamilton's achievement with a motion in the House of Commons tabled by Keith Vaz, an MP for the governing Labour Party, lauding him as "an excellent role model and inspiration for all young people to aspire to".

However, Bob Russell of the opposition Liberal Democrats, was saddened that Hamilton had opted to live in Switzerland for tax purposes and tabled his motion to add the words: "but regrets that his patriotism to the country which nurtured him, and made his success possible, is to live abroad as a tax exile." - AFP/de