The success of Formula One's fastest is a chequered flag for everyone who's feeling oppressed

My ears prick up whenever I hear talks about one guy making a move on another guy from behind - with frequent changes of rubber products.

Yes, I'm talking about F1 and tyre rubber. Although when it concerns a hottie, as pictured here.

I know other "F" words come to some readers' minds than Formula One. "Fabulous", for example.

About the same time Barack Obama was elected the most powerful man on the planet, another mixed-race was crowned king in a different elite club.

The 24-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton has taken the motor-racing world by storm in recent years, and in November became the first "black" - as well as the youngest - to win the World Championship.

My fascination with the McLaren Mercedes driver isn't about his success, though, but in how he got there.

In 2007 there was controversy when Hamilton was heckled in Spain by spectators in black face paint and black wigs who wore shirts bearing the phrase "Hamilton's family".

Growing up and trying to succeed against adversity is a familiar story with many LGBT people.

Just before clinching the world championship, the trail-blazing Hamilton spoke in an interview about what it would mean to him to become the first black champ.

"It will show that not only white people can do it, but also black people, Indians, Japanese and Chinese.

"Outside of Formula One, my heroes are foremost my father, then Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King," added the hottie, who was recently named a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

"Being black is not a negative. It's a positive, if anything, because I'm different."

Suddenly, F1 found the winning formula to race the hearts of millions who hadn't previously cared about it - mine included.

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