Lewis Hamilton must be heroic for British F1 fans and for himself | Paul Weaver

Victory at Silverstone essential if Mercedes driver is to wrest the title initiative back from team-mate Nico Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton, his large brown eyes wide with wonder, speaks with awe about meeting Will Smith, Samuel L Jackson, LeBron James and Magic Johnson. But do they talk about meeting the racing driver? Sundays British Grand Prix will go a long way to defining Hamiltons season and, perhaps, his place in Formula Ones firmament. That, in turn, will inform his wider fame, his celebrity status in the rather Neverland-ish world that he so often inhabits; the importance of this afternoons race cannot be overstated.
Arithmetically, Hamilton does not have to win on Sunday to maintain his world championship prospects. The British driver is 29 points behind his Mercedes team-mate and only serious rival Nico Rosberg, and there are 11 races remaining, including the double-pointer in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.
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