Hamilton dedicates Canadian GP win to Ali, calls boxing great ‘iconic individual’

MONTREAL – Lewis Hamilton doesn’t dedicates wins to anyone, but he made an exception Sunday for boxing great Muhammad Ali.

After winning the Canadian Grand Prix for the second time in a row and a fifth time overall, Hamilton opened his remarks at a news conference by paying homage to “someone who really inspired me so much throughout my life.”

Ali, heralded for standing up for the downtrodden and his stand against the Vietnam war as much as for his boxing achievements, died last week at 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

“I think he was just a unique, iconic individual who had a character unlike anyone else’s and everyone aspired to be like him,” said Hamilton, Formula One’s only black driver. “I wish I could have spoken with the charisma that he would have, or the comedic side he would have, that confidence that he could carry into a fight and outwit his opponents.

“And then for the things he stood for, even more importantly politically, believing in who you are and not letting anyone dictate who you have to be. As a kid, when I saw that, I think I was like ‘this is the guy I want to be like.’ I hope one day to be like him. Coming from a family of similar background, in a sense of ethnicity, it was someone to look up to. Obviously in Formula One there was no one of the same colour as us, as a family, so it was another athlete for me to look up to.”

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