Brazil has always loved Lewis Hamilton, and he has also been granted honorary citizenship of the country. The passionate country is known to love sports such as football, but they also have a strong love for F1. Lewis Hamilton has many fans in Brazil and some of them happen to be from a famous football club.

The Vasco da Gama Football Club happens to be co-owned by ex-F1 racer, Nelson Piquet. Recently, the club decided to pay tribute to some of the important figures who fight against prejudice and Lewis Hamilton happens to be one of the tribute figures alongside Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. And it was done in one of the best ways possible.

Vasco da Gama Football Club’s tribute to figures fighting racial prejudice

Lewis Hamilton is the world’s first and only Black F1 driver. Vasco da Gama decided to pay tribute to him by creating a jersey with his name and assigning him the number 8. The 7-time F1 world champion was honored alongside names like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Milton Santos, and Zumbi dos Palmares by Vasco da Gama Club.

While Lewis Hamilton is the first black F1 driver, that is not the only reason why Vasco da Gama decided to tribute the racer. He is also a founder of Mission 44, which helps people with diverse backgrounds grow and thrive in their fields.

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Receiving a felicitation from Vasco da Gama, alongside Nelson Mandela, is something that Hamilton must be extremely excited about. Earlier in 2023, Hamilton spoke about how he was highly inspired by Nelson Mandela and even had a chance to meet him at the age of 23.

Lewis Hamilton’s experience of meeting Nelson Mandela

During an interview with YouTuber Jay Shetty on his podcast channel, Hamilton talks about his approach to improving every day. An interesting detail escaped Hamilton’s lips during this conversation. He began discussing his inspiration from Nelson Mandela and shared the opportunity he had to meet him. Hamilton revealed that getting to know Nelson Mandela motivated him to engage more in networking and meet “unbelievable” people.

After this, he continues to explain how he was invited to Mandela’s 90th birthday. This is where Hamilton had the chance to meet some people that he never dreamed of meeting. This included Bill Clinton, Denzil Washington, and Oprah Winfrey sitting next to him. He spoke about how he was young when he met all these people and didn’t expect to meet everyone he got to through Mandela.

He described meeting Mandela felt like meeting a “God” or a “King”. While talking about Mandela’s aura, Hamilton said, “You could see his aura, his smile, he was beaming.” He added that this was one of the most moving moments in his life as a youngster.

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With his immense contributions on and off the racetrack, Hamilton being bestowed this honor by the legendary football club doesn’t come as a surprise. Which other sports personalities, according to you, are worthy of such a tribute? Let us know in the comments.