‘Cool Runnings’ fan Lewis Hamilton backed for bobsleigh stardom after F1

Lewis Hamilton has previously expressed an interest in trying his hand at bobsledding

Lewis Hamilton could try a new sport after F1 (Getty Images)

Jamaican sprinter Tyquendo Tracey has suggested that Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula One champion, possesses the ideal skills to become an Olympic bobsleigh driver should he seek new thrills after his racing career.

Tracey is currently forging his own parallel sporting path with the Jamaican four-man bobsleigh team, a squad whose legacy traces back to the iconic 1988 "Cool Runnings" crew – a story that inspired one of Hamilton's favourite films.

While Hamilton, at 41, might not match the raw speed of sled pusher Tracey, a two-time national track champion and sub-10-second 100 metres runner, his steering prowess could prove invaluable.

"I think he (Hamilton) would do well," F1 enthusiast Tracey told Reuters Television.

Jamaica has a bobsleigh team at the Olympics (REUTERS)

"When you see people like Lewis Hamilton going around curves (at) 200-250 miles an hour, he's going to have the eye for it to be able to manoeuvre a sled... so, personally, I think he would do very well."

An Olympic four-man bob can reach speeds of approximately 150 kilometres per hour.

Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents emigrated to Britain from Grenada, has frequently spoken about the profound influence of 'Cool Runnings' in depicting Black athletes breaking into a predominantly white sport – a narrative that resonates with his own journey in motorsport. He has also recently voiced an interest in bobsleigh.

"If I was to do a Winter Olympic sport, it would be bobsledding," Hamilton stated in a recent Ferrari team video.

"I always wanted to do bobsledding. There's no Grenadian team, so maybe I would take my best friend Jan and then get a couple of other characters from Grenada and then create a bobsleigh team."

Tracey regards Hamilton, the most successful driver in Formula One history and its first Black champion, as a significant role model.

"I watched the new Formula One movie that Lewis produced. And so, after doing that, I started paying more attention to Formula One," he added.

"That's my guy. He's my people in a sense. So he's automatically a role model for a lot of people just because of where he's from, you know, who he is."