F1: Lewis Hamilton explains bid to buy Chelsea - despite being Arsenal fan!
Hamilton,𒆙 who is an Arsenal fan, confirmed ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that he has pledged a reported £10m🍒illion investment, along with tennis legend Serena Williams, to back Sir Martin Broughton’s bid to buy the Premier League club.
Chelsea was put up for sale by Russi👍an oligarch Roman Abramovich in March in the wake of the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid,” Hamilton ☂said. “I’ve played football 🍒from probably the age of four until 17. I was in teams every year, I was in the school team every year through my childhood. Been to numerous games.
“When I was young, around the corner from where I lived, I used to play football with all the ki🧸ds and a couple of my clos🌊e friends at the time, I was really wanting to fit in. I was the only kid of colour there.
“Th♌e kids all supported someone different. One was Tottenham, one was Man Utd. I rememꦡber switching between these teams when I was younger and getting home and my sister Sam punching me several times in the arm, she basically beat me and said I had to support Arsenal.
“So from five or six years old I then became a supporter of Arsenal. But my Uncle Terry is a big blues fan💮 so I’ve been to so many games with him to watch Arsenal and Chelsea play.
“Ultimately I’m a sporting fan. It’s the biggest sport in the world and Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs ﷽in the world and one of the most successful.
“When I he♛ard about this opportunity I was like ‘wow’, this is one of the gr🅘eatest opportunities to be part of something so great.”
How did F1 great Hamilton become involved in Chelsea bid?
Hamilton: “Well naturally I heard about it in the news. Everyone is aware about it. We were contacted and Sir Martin took time to s🔯peak to me on the phone and explain his and his team’s goals, if they were to win the bid, which was incredibly exciting💙.
"And it was very much aligned with my values and again, as a kid,🌊 I remember collecting all the stickers and books to trade cards. I remember filling all of those up as a kid and collecting all those pennies and tradi♈ng them for sweets with the other kids for the most valuable ones.
“When I was younger I was trying to be the best player I could be and actu♈ally play for a team, so I was trying 👍out for Stevenage Borough when I was younger but then I was in the racing space.
“I could have only ever dreamed of being an actual integral part of a ꦍteam, so that for me is the most excit⛄ing part.”
How is Serena Williams involved?
Hamilton: “We did speak about it. We spoke multiple ti𒆙mes, Serena and I are very close so we are constantly in 🐟touch. She’s a phenomenal athlete and woman.
“We spoke abo🦹ut it, she asked me what my thoughts were about it and I told her that I’m going to be a part of it and she was excited to join.”
What are Hamilton's plans for Chelsea?
Hamilton: “Firstly, we are trying to 🧔acquire a team and move it forwards. This is a team, it’s all about the community. That’s what really makes a football team, it’s the people in a💃nd around it.
“They’ve beeꦍn quite leading in their work in D&I and becoming more diverse and progressive.
“So it’s not that we’re associating ourselves with previous owners, our goals is to co🙈ntinue some of the work that they’ve already done and have💫 even more of an impact and engage more with the community.”
Can Hamilton revamp Chelsea's finances?
Hamilton: “Naturally that’s never the idea of an investment (to lose money). Firstly, to be involv🏅ed in something as big as this is the excitement first and foremost that comes to mind.
"Of course, it’s a busine🅷ss venture but through the discussions that we’ve had and how the team plan to manage this team moving forwards and improve that and slo🐷wly decrease those losses and turn it into a profit-making organisation.
“That’s going to take a lot of work. There’s so many moving parts, naturally, and I don’t have all the strategy for a꧂ll that.🧜 We haven’t yet won the bid, so I’m sure all that will come afterwards.
“But the team, the consorti♋um, it’s a consortium of lifetime Chelsea fans and others who have come to it later like myself. There’s not anyone that’s a part of it that’s with the mindset of losing.
“I think Chelsea already has a winning mindset bu🦩t I think we can do better moving forwards.”
Would it affect Hamilton’s F1 career?
Hamilton: “Well at the moment my primary focus is continuing in Formula 1 and this isn’t my fi💧rst business venture or investment. But yeah, i🌟t’s something that I’m excited about.
“I would say for sure early on I wouldn’t be able to be as hands on as some of the other people that are a part of it. We haven’t won it yet but if we do, there’s lots of opportunity t😼o be involved more and more over time, which is super exciting and particularly beyond racing, of wanting to helᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚp with the success they’ve already had and help it be even more successful.
“The part൲ we are very aligned in and what they’ve already done there is D&I. You see in that sport there is a lot more work that needs to be done to be diverse and more inclusive.𒁏
“It’s an amazing platform to bring in and educate a lot of the amazing fans that areꦰ out there. And there’s some amazing talent within the team that have already stood up against discrimination and worked very closely with the organisation to move forward.
“I think that’s really important for the fa♍ns of Chelsea. The community💫 is heavily invested in that also, so I think that’s important.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for wuqian0821.com around the wo💫rld. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis t🃏ells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
