The 12 year old in this photo, is not an underdog... he's with the F1 championship winning team and the F1 championship winning driver.
... the ginger kid with the glasses had to fight just as hard as Lewis to get that opportunity, his parents had to put everything on the line to get him that far, just as Anthony Hamilton did... just as lots of parents do, because despite what you may believe, not all karting drivers are the sons of F1 drivers - they're nearly
all underdogs until they get picked up by a team or driver programme... Lewis got picked up by one of, if not
the biggest, and since then, he's been the one with the privilege beating down the dreams of the underdogs.
Some interesting reads for those genuinely interested...
At their peak, they outperformed the biggest names in sport. So what became of the stars that never quite made it? And what is it like to live the rest of your life knowing you came so close? Simon Hattenstone meets the also-rans.
www.theguardian.com
and..
edit:
This is Anthony Hamilton's other son, Nicholas, with my god son at Donington this year....
Nic has cerebral palsy... he races in the British Touring Car Championship, he does so
mostly without leveraging his family name or fortune, and didn't pick up a cushy drive with a top team before he was even a teenager... his best finish in the series is 29th. This is what an underdog is. Nic is a really nice guy, I've spoken to him on a number of occasions, I don't suppose for a second you give the tiniest sh!t about him, because you don't care about underdogs, you care about things being "baller", and crass displays of wealth, that, and the fact it allows you to cheer for someone who is winning, is why you like Lewis.