Lewis Hamilton‘s tax status is under the microscope as calls grow for the F1 star to be given a knighthood following his record-equalling seventh world title.
The 35-year-old was awarded an MBE in 2008 after his first championship but has so far been denied the higher honour despite his strong claims to being Formula One’s greatest ever driver and Britain’s greatest ever sportsman.
One suggested factor behind the denial is that Hamilton lives in Monaco – a tax haven – although it has been claimed this week that his “tax status has been misunderstood”.
Motorsport UK chairman David Richards and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Formula One have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson campaigning for Hamilton to be knighted in the New Year Honours.
“It would be totally wrong for the UK to deny Lewis an award befitting his historic achievements because of where he chooses to live or work or because his tax status has been misunderstood,” Richards, 68, states in the letter.
It is also claimed that HMRC’s UK Income Tax Liabilities Statistics, published in 2019, put Hamilton among the top 5,000 highest tax payers in the UK.
Hamilton told the Sunday Times in 2014: “What people don’t realise is that I pay tax here [in the UK], but I don’t earn all my money here.
“I race in 19 different countries, so I earn my money in 20 different places and I pay tax in several different places, and I pay a lot here as well. I am contributing to the country and, not only that, I help keep a team of more than 1,000 people employed. I am part of a much bigger picture.”
Who gets a knighthood?
From the official website of the Royal Family:
“Honours are decided and announced by the Cabinet Office twice a year: at New Year and on The Queen’s official birthday in June.
“They are then presented to recipients by members of the Royal Family throughout the year at ceremonies known as ‘Investitures’.
“The UK honours system rewards people for merit, service or bravery. Honours are given to deserving and high-achieving people from every section of life: from soldiers to community volunteers, performers and leaders of industry.“
What Hamilton said this week:
“I think about people like my grandad who served in the war, I think about Sir Captain Tom [Moore],” he said, referring to the 100-year-old former soldier who raised more than £32m for Britain’s National Health Service.
“The people that are running hospitals, the nurses and doctors who are saving lives during the hardest time ever. I think about those unsung heroes and I don’t look at myself as an unsung hero.
“I’ve not saved anybody.”
Calls grow for ‘Sir Lewis’
Fellow British great Sir Jackie Stewart, the three-time world champion who lived in Switzerland during his racing career, told the Daily Telegraph this week there is “no question” Hamilton should be knighted: “I certainly think it’s justified.”
Richards and the F1 All-Party Parliamentary Group – whose letter is signed by former Labour cabinet minister Lord Hain, and Conservative MPs Greg Smith and James Sunderland – also point to Hamilton’s charitable work for the Make A Wish foundation, Save the Children and Unicef and his push for equality and inclusivity in a sport where he remains the sole black driver.
They also highlight the Hamilton Commission, which has been established by the new seven-time world champion, to improve the representation of black people in motor sport.
Richards adds: “Throughout Lewis’ journey to the top he has walked a lonely path as the only black driver in F1 and the Black Lives Matter movement has allowed him to speak candidly about his experience. He has used his voice, platform and influence to call for positive change.
“His story is a remarkable one of sheer application, dedication, sacrifice, supreme skill and determination to enter a sport where the odds were stacked immeasurably against him.
“Lewis is a global icon. A patriot of exemplary character who never misses an opportunity to drape himself in the Union Jack and to exult his proud Britishness.
“Lewis is applauded the world over for his achievements in a Formula One car and it would be entirely right for the UK to recognise his extraordinary achievements by bestowing him a Knighthood as has been the case for so many other British sportsmen of similar standing.”
However, while several of Hamilton’s contemporaries in other sports have been awarded knighthoods or damehoods – including Andy Murray, Mo Farah, Chris Hoy, Alastair Cook and Jessica Ennis-Hill – the Daily Mail reports there has been a “change of outlook” from Government on bestowing the honour to active sportspeople. Chris Froome, the five-time winner of the Tour de France and another Monaco resident, is another prominent sporting figure yet to be knighted.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: “What the PM would say is that is an absolutely fantastic achievement by Lewis Hamilton, who has entered the sporting and Formula One history books.
“Anyone who is considered for an honour undergoes a full series of checks before that’s awarded. It is an independent system.”
Analysis: ‘Lack of recognition is increasingly bizarre’
By Kevin Garside, i chief sports correspondent
Unlike the man whose world title achievements he has just equalled, Michael Schumacher, Hamilton is largely free of blemish, has prospered without riding others off the road or blocking their route in qualifying.
From the outset he has sought to highlight the contribution of others as much as his own, making the point that without the team behind him, he would not be able to deliver on the circuit.
Footballer Marcus Rashford has become the nation’s favourite for his campaign to feed Britain’s impoverished kids. Rashford speaks a truth born of personal experience, which gives him relatability and authenticity.
Hamilton is no less active through the foundation that bears his name, contributing generously to a raft of charitable causes including Save The Children, The Honeypot Children’s Charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital, plus organisations with a more global focus like Unicef, Education Africa and the Harlem Children’s Zone.
And few have been more vocal in raising awareness of the issues that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. Hamilton cannot look across the playing field to other black faces, he has never taken a pass from a black team-mate or celebrated on the podium with a black colleague. Hamilton is a one-man campaigning machine for people of colour in his sport, and has met plenty of resistance along the way. Yet the wider public approval given deservedly to Rashford is not Hamilton’s to enjoy.
Hamilton does not need a knighthood to feel good about himself or justified in the way he goes about his business. But the absence of one casts the process in a deeply disturbing light and is increasingly indefensible.
You can read Kevin’s full analysis here.
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