Normally Hamilton would have been able to at least rely on the support of British fans. Unfortunately from 2010 he found himself paired at McLaren with compatriot and fellow world champion Jenson Button who was born for the part. He seemed the very model of a modern F1 motoring hero: tall, confident, good looking and square-jawed, with a relaxed and confident charm in front of the cameras. Hamilton couldn't compete with that, and part of the reason for that is that for many F1 fans his face simply didn't fit.
Button looked every inch the part of a classic racing driver, while too many appeared to view Hamilton as a working class black kid with no place being in a rich white man's sport
Hamilton was the first black driver to compete in the history of the championship, which is itself a shocking and frankly shameful statistic, a woeful lack of diversity for a sport that prides itself as truly global and international. On the receiving end of hate messages and racist chants from the grandstands, a section of 'fans' did everything they could to make Hamilton feel unwanted in F1. While Button looked every inch the part of a classic racing driver, too many appeared to view Hamilton as a working class black kid from the 'ghetto' who had no place being in a rich white man's sport. They disliked him ruining their fantasy assumptions of the nature of the sport, much as the selection of a female actor to play Doctor Who has led to fans of that science-fiction show wailing that the casting had 'ruined their childhood'. To which one can only reply that it seems those so-called fans haven't really grown up at all.
It was a hard time for Hamilton, and he didn't always handle it well as he tended to wear his heart on the sleeve too much for his own good. While Button was supported at every race by his family (especially his father John, as popular a figure in the paddock as many of the drivers) Hamilton grew isolated and unhappy, estranged from his own father-manager Anthony and was also in the process of a protracted breakup from long-time girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. Hamilton appeared unhappy, emotionally closed-off and frequently came across as sullen and introspective, while his performance on track also suffered. When Hamilton was summoned before race stewards at Monaco in 2011 for the fifth time in six races, he rashly quipped "Maybe it's because I'm black," intending a witty allusion to Ali G but instead earning himself a sharp behind the scenes rebuke from the F1 authorities who were appalled by such a suggestion.
