Motorsports Mondial

Nasir Hameed has left the F1Weekly palatial studios he will be missed. RIP my old friend.

My Dear Friend,

It is at these times, when we stand here alone, looking out at the afternoon sky, that we realize that all of us have more questions than answers. In this life here on Earth, we are all guilty of seeking out the faults and failing to see the beauty that surrounds us. No matter where we are from, and no matter where we are going, there is the undeniable truth that God has given to us a beautiful place in which to spend the life he has given to us.

It is not so often that we meet the special ones. For sure, in my life, I have been blessed many times over and have met, worked with, and befriended some truly wonderful people. We all have our friends, those who we cherish and do not want to share, but the special ones, they do not come along very often and for most, I am not sure that they come along at all.

For some reason, I began listening to F1 Weekly. I really do not remember how we met; perhaps I reached out with a question or a comment but I do remember that we began to talk and eventually we met in England. It was a tremendous joy for me to help you with the realization of your dream of giving opportunities to young and enthusiastic children in your hometown of Karachi and to build you two karts and deliver them to the docks on the Thames and see them off to Pakistan. Your vision was an enormously selfless gesture and I know that the children who experienced driving the karts had the ride of a lifetime.

When I was a young man, I discovered Formula 1. I was 19 years old and I could not understand how I had lived my life in England and knew absolutely nothing about a sport that would end up being so dear to my heart. I discovered that a family friend worked for Williams and I was taken to the British Grand Prix in 1994 and later the Canadian Grand Prix in 1998. On both occasions I was a guest of the Williams team: I had done something twice over that so very few people in this world have done at all.

Over the years I have listened to you carefully and I have learned so much. I have watched you interact with people who have defined the history and heritage of Motorsports in the very real sense; Mario Andretti, Emmerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Jack Brabham. From the modern era, Nikii Lauda, Jody Schekter, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher; Ricardo Patrese, Damon Hill, Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi … the list goes on and on. Your dedication and devotion, not to mention your extraordinary knowledge of what lies in the vault of history of Grand Prix Racing, and indeed Motorsports as a whole, dating back to before the dawn of time, is unmatched by anyone I have ever heard of.

But aside from all of this must surely be the true mark of a man, which is defined not by what he has or what he knows, but by the actions of his soul and the friends he keeps. In the twenty years I have known you, I have never once heard anyone say anything bad or negative about you. You could not possibly know how loved and respected you are and by how many people. And even if you did know, you never changed. You have continued to touch lives and gift people with you presence. You have selflessly given of yourself, giving your hard-earned money and going without so that others could go with. You have helped and encouraged countless young hopefuls with a dream and you have played a part in making those dreams a reality. You have never asked for anything from anyone, and we all know it.

I imagine a little boy in a far away land. He had a dream and clung to it all the days of his life. He came to America and worked hard, contributing to the American life and living in a way that would put the most upstanding of our citizens to shame. You have found a way to make it happen and I imagine that your life was filled with the gradual realization of the dream you had as a little boy in that far away land. You define kindness and generosity; you define human decency; you are what every man should aspire to be; you are, and will always be, one of the special ones.

As we gather ourselves together in the wake of your human life, I imagine that we all have our stories where you have starred as the title character. While all of them are different, and all of them unique to each of us, we are united together by the fact that we all have something that you never had; we have your example. We are better people for knowing you and we will all aspire to never let you down.

Standing alone, looking out at the afternoon sky, I wonder if you can see us. I would like to think so because there are so many people who owe you so much. You have enriched our lives and brought us so much joy, through your life and through your work, and we will never forget you.

Farewell my dear friend. Until we meet again; you remain, for all of us, the special one.