Hamilton topped yesterday’s qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix, though his team-mate Valtteri Bottas will start in pole position today, due to the championship leader’s grid penalty. Despite Hamilton’s ten-place grid drop for a new engine, he dominated qualifying and will start the race in 11th, while Bottas beat the Englishman’s title rival Max Verstappen. Hamilton, who received a knighthood last year for his services to motorsport, was fastest in a wet-dry Q1 and Q2 and then set a new Istanbul Park track record in Q3.
The driver, who is the current World Drivers’ Championship leader, is gunning to overtake Michael Schumacher to win a record eighth title.
Despite his achievements on the track, the F1 star was humbled by a child, who in an unearthed video, questioned why Hamilton spoke with an “American” accent.
In Sky Sports F1’s 2019 series Small Talk, a child interviewed Hamilton and asked: “I heard you on the Christina Aguilera song ‒ is that really you?”
Confused, Hamilton responds “No” before the child adds “It has to be”.
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The F1 driver asks: “Why does it have to be?”
The child explains: “Because it sounds a bit American on the track and you’re talking a bit American now.”
Hamilton quickly says “Am I?” before the child adds “Yeah you sound a bit American or Australian.”
Hamilton defensively remarks: “Australian? No, I don’t sound Australian.”
“I think what it was that my dad always gave me a lot of trouble because he said I would mumble, so I would always stutter my words when I was younger.
“Then I started travelling to Europe so I was a lot in France and Italy and I started speaking a lot of broken English.
“And I spent a lot of time in an American airbase when I was young and naturally all the music I listen to is American.
“So sometimes you just accidentally pick up the twang.”
The cheeky interviewer then took a different tack in skewering the world renowned sports star, by commenting on Hamilton’s appearance.
He said: “My mum said that you were better looking when you were younger ‒ do you think that?”
Flustered Hamilton responded: “Erm no… Jeez I don’t know.”
Hilariously the child then reveals a picture of a young Hamilton and exclaimed “What were you thinking?”
In agreement Hamilton says: “I think this is a terrible picture ‒ yeah that was not a good look.
“Your mum needs to go to Specsavers because I look much better now than I did there.”