You may or may not have heard, but Nico Rosberg was the 2016 Formula One World Champion. Not Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg. So why is Hamilton on the cover of TIME magazine?
The vivacious and enthusiastic dogstagrammer/racing driver took to Twitter this morning to announce the good news.
The TIME story (with Hamilton’s cover appearing on the UK edition only) acknowledges Hamilton’s loss to Rosberg, but hopes that his unofficial role as F1's ambassador will help the sport gain popularity in the United States:
America hosts just one race per year, the fall Grand Prix in Texas, and Formula One lags in popularity behind homegrown racing circuits like NASCAR, not to mention the NFL, NBA and many other pro and college sports. “So many people I meet in America ask me, ‘What’s Formula One?’” Hamilton says before walking out to his autograph session a day before the Austin race. “What, do you live in a shoe box? Haven’t you at least heard of it?”
The cover story pick probably has something to do with Rosberg’s shocking and unexpected retirement from F1 following his victory, thus ending the highly heated rivalry between him and Hamilton.
Speaking about next year, Hamilton told TIME, “I’m in a good head space. When I lost the championship, the motivation to want to take it back next year became twofold. I now have twice the desire.”
Update: The Lewis Hamilton cover is running on the UK edition only. This post has been updated to reflect that.