THERE was a moment this season that proved Lewis Hamilton is now bigger than Formula One itself. He was right and, as we now know, the race was cancelled following a positive test in the McLaren team. Over the years I have covered his races, I’ve seen the sulks and reported on them. But this season, it is his off-track work that has made me appreciate Hamilton as the UK’s best sportsman of all-time. I know this because they tell me all the time and Hamilton now knows he will never enjoy the universal support of us Brits. Maybe the accent, maybe the tax debate — for the record he does pay UK tax and is in the country’s top 5,000 payers — or maybe because people feel they cannot identify with an F1 driver.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•