• E-mail

It wasn't a 12-stroke victory at the Masters, but Lewis Hamilton's performance Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix was Tiger Woods-esque.

It was historic. It was impressive. And it would have been dominant but for four crashes that brought out the safety car to slow the field.

Hamilton, a 22-year-old rookie from England, became the first black driver to win a Formula One race.

"I'm on another planet after this," said Hamilton, whose grandparents came from Grenada. "It was only a few laps from the end, I realized that victory was within my grasp and I started noticing things like the fans cheering."

Get used to it, Lewis.

Wouldn't NASCAR love to have a guy like Hamilton? He proves that young drivers can develop by making steady progress through the ranks. And his success also shows that a driver of any race can make it in the sport.

NASCAR has struggled to grow its fan base among African-Americans in great measure because of the absence of black drivers.

But the comparison to Woods is much more about ability than race.

Woods is clearly the greatest golfer on the planet. He could become the greatest ever. Hamilton has a long way to go to become the Woods of his sport, but his development and early success are reminiscent of Tiger's.

Woods had a father who groomed him to become a phenomenal golfer, and Tiger took it from there.

Hamilton's father, Anthony, bought Lewis a go-kart when he was 6 years old and held down several jobs to pay for his son's racing career. That Hamilton would get into a speed-related sport seemed preordained. His parents named him after Carl Lewis, an Olympic champion – and a fast one, at that.

Lewis was winning races as a youngster. At age 10, he met McLaren team boss Ron Dennis and told him that one day he was going to race in Formula One for McLaren.

There's no evidence that Dennis laughed or thought Hamilton was crazy. The young driver was certainly confident. Dennis paid attention to Hamilton's progress and was impressed enough to sign him as a developmental driver at age 13. The intent was to finance the well-spoken Hamilton and groom him to drive in Formula One.

The plan worked wonders. Hamilton developed and honed his skills, showing no signs of succumbing to the pressure of high expectations. He ran in the British Formula Renault Series, the Formula Three Euroseries and GP2 Series.

AP

Lewis Hamilton finished second four straight times before Sunday's Formula One win.

Hamilton had some bad crashes and tough finishes, but those were merely speed bumps in an impressive career. He ran for the best team in the GP2 Series and won the championship in his first season. He even managed to win a race after he was penalized for speeding on pit road. He was able to pass top competition on parts of the courses where passing was difficult and rare.

Hamilton was peaking at the right time. Juan Pablo Montoya left McLaren to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, and Kimi Raikkonen decided to drive for Ferrari. That left an open spot for Hamilton to become the teammate of defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.

Some were surprised that McLaren didn't hire a more experienced driver. No one is questioning the decision now.

Hamilton benefits from driving for a top team. But he has shown he has the guts and ability to consistently stay near the lead and avoid major mistakes. He finished second in four consecutive races before Sunday and, with the win, is now the points leader. He has finished no worse than third in his first six races, something no rookie had ever done in Formula One.

"It's been an incredible start to my Formula One career so far, but I know there is a tough season ahead of us," Hamilton said.

Already thinking about the rest of the season? That doesn't sound like a rookie. That sounds like Tiger.

Car: No. 2 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Age: 22

Birthplace: Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England

Ht., Wt.: 5-7, 150 pounds

2007 season: Leads the standings with one win, one third-place finish and four seconds in six races.

Notable: Began racing cars in 2001 (after racing go-karts) and worked his way up the circuits. ... First tested an F1 car in 2004. ... Won the Formula Three Euroseries championship for ASM in 2005. ... Raced in the GP2 Series in 2006 before getting his Formula One ride with McLaren in 2007.

The IndyCar Series needs more rivalries like the one created by Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick. After their spat on pit road at Milwaukee nearly two weeks ago, the two ran close to each other at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend with Patrick still complaining about Wheldon's driving style.

Good. The series needs rivalries. NASCAR has some (it could use a few more, too), and they add spice and drama to the events. The mere anticipation that something could happen with Patrick and Wheldon at TMS had fans interested.

Imagine how many more rivalries Patrick could create if she started winning. She appears to be getting closer to doing so.