EVEN as he was rattling up an all-time record of Grand Prix victories, debate raged over whether Lewis Hamilton was truly appreciated in his homeland.
Now a knight of the realm and a two-time winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, there should be few doubts that the Formula One world champion is admired and cherished in Britain.
There is nothing begrudging about the awarding of Hamilton’s knighthood in the New Year Honours list.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has — rightly or wrongly — bent the rules to swerve the issues of Hamilton’s status as a resident of Monaco’s tax haven.
Hamilton, 35, has to be seriously considered as Britain’s greatest ever sportsman due to the simple fact that he is the only one with a genuine claim of being the greatest of all time in any truly global sport.
That is without even considering he rose from a Hertfordshire council estate to become the first black F1 driver.
Hamilton’s 2020 was an extraordinary one — not only because he overtook Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 race victories and equalled the great German’s total of seven world titles.
This was the year when Hamilton truly found his voice as an outspoken advocate of greater diversity in a sport which has been slow to even recognise the issue.
He is still the only black man on the grid and has been defiant and fearless in highlighting the issue, as well as campaigning against racism in wider society.
It took time for him to grow into his role as a global spokesman but he has grasped the nettle and will not let go.
There will still be some dissenting voices about Hamilton becoming Sir Lewis — arguments about his tax status as well as groans about the uncompetitive nature of modern Formula One.
He was included on ‘the diplomatic and overseas’ section of the Honours list to circumvent the fact the taxman cannot fully probe his financial affairs.
Yet most F1 drivers — who spend the vast majority of the year globe-trotting as an occupational hazard — reside in tax havens and Hamilton does pay millions every year to the UK exchequer.
There is no doubt his outstanding Mercedes car makes him virtually invincible over the course of a season.
Yet there is also no argument that he earned the right to drive the fastest car as the most talented of his generation.
As his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said last night: “Lewis is one of the very greatest racing drivers of all-time and the most successful British sportsperson of his era.
“This year, he combined his excellence on the track with a powerful voice to fight discrimination.
“In every sense, he led the way in 2020. The news he is to receive a knighthood shows he is now receiving the recognition he has earned during a career of unparalleled success in motorsport.
“The UK can be very proud to have a champion and ambassador of the calibre of Sir Lewis Hamilton.”
Whether a sportsman should be knighted while he is still competing is another question.
Yet while Sir Andy Murray contests tennis Grand Slams and Sir Alastair Cook bats for Essex, Hamilton has greater claims to his honour than any other current star.
There will be no controversy over the MBE for inspirational former Leeds Rhinos rugby league player Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year and has campaigned to raise awareness of his illness.
Likewise, Bob Champion — who won the Grand National on Aldaniti in 1981 after recovering from cancer and has been steadfast in his charity work ever since — receiving a CBE.
Jimmy Greaves and Ron Flowers, the only living members of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad never to have been honoured, both earn MBEs.
Those awards are long overdue, though for Greaves — England’s greatest goalscorer and a hugely popular TV personality — the absence of a knighthood remains one of the strangest oversights in the murky honours system.
