Lewis Hamilton shared a touching tale involving his sister about how he became an Arsenal supporter as he responded to the Gunners’ Premier League title triumph. Boss Mikel Arteta has guided the north London side to their first league crown since the 2004 ‘Invincibles’ campaign, confirmed on Tuesday night when rivals Manchester City were held to a draw by Bournemouth.
Hamilton is among Arsenal’s most prominent fans and had the opportunity to praise his childhood club’s title-winning stars on media day before this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. And he did so while recounting the story of how he became a Gooner during his upbringing in Stevenage.
Asked how he felt on Tuesday night when the title was confirmed, Hamilton responded: “Like for everyone, very emotional. I shed a tear, to be honest, because I remember I was five years old and I used to play in Stevenage and Peartree Way, I used to play football with friends.
“I was the only black kid in the area, out of the people I was playing with, and I remember trying to fit in and all of them supported different teams: West Ham, Tottenham, Manchester and so on. So I was bouncing between all these when I was like four or five years old, depending on who I was with.
“My sister, I was messaging her the other day, she was walking me home and she asked me what team I supported, and she gave me a dead arm, a little dig in my arm and said, ‘You have to support Arsenal’. So we had a laugh yesterday about it.”
Hamilton, now 41, was merely 19 years old when Arsenal last lifted the English title in 2004. His Formula 1 debut was still almost three years away at that point, as he climbed the junior single-seater motorsport ranks in the hope of achieving his childhood dream.
Since that moment, he has watched the Gunners secure the FA Cup five times, but following a pair of near-misses in recent seasons he was thrilled to witness the club finally achieve success under Arteta.
View 2 Images(Image: Stuart MacFarlane, Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
He added: “We’ve had so many close moments and, to finally get it, it was like, ‘Wow’. A lot of emotion came up for me, as I’m sure it did for so many people. I’m just so happy and proud of the team. Obviously, Arsene [Wenger] was great, but I think the direction they’ve gone in the past couple of years has been fantastic.
“I’ve been very inspired by what they’ve done. I’m really, really proud of the team and I think they can go from strength to strength from here, and only get stronger.”
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