It was in 2008 that the Brazilian Grand Prix saw the British race driver Lewis Hamilton winning his first Formula One title while also becoming the youngest ever Formula One world champion in the history of the sport.

In doing so he also ended a 12-year drought for the UK in the World Championship. The last time they had won here was in 1996 when Damon Hill won in his Willams-Renault with Jean Alesi of France second in a Benetton-Renault and Michael Schumacher of Germany third in a Ferrari.

He had not been born in 1996 but watching Hamilton celebrate his 2008 victory on the television in London was a 10-year-old boy of Pakistani-decent. There was something about motor racing that drew Enaam Ahmed to the sport. He had already started go-karting at eight and now, while watching a racer of colour taking the Formula One world champion’s title, he felt inspired enough to dream of doing the same one day.

Born in London on Feb 4, 2000, Enaam is a British national. This year he started racing under the Pakistan flag. “For the longest time I raced for the UK, but there was always something missing,” the racer tells Eos during a meeting with him when he was in Karachi recently.

Enaam Ahmed is a 22-year-old motor racer from England, who has started racing under the Pakistan flag. Eos met up with him when he was recently in Karachi

“I wasn’t really representing who I am. Then one day, I came to realise that I wanted to race for Pakistan, the country from where I originally came, where my parents came from. It was also because I see Pakistan under-represented in most sports, especially motorsports. I wanted to make the country proud,” he adds.

“There is no motor racing in Pakistan because motor racing costs a lot of money and the country has a lot of problems that they need to spend money on. Perhaps in the future, when Pakistan’s financial situation becomes more stable, then there would be an opportunity for motorsport here but, right now, I don’t think it is a possibility,” he says.

“I was very lucky that I grew up in the UK because, without that, I would not have started racing. UK is the best country for motorsport. So many good race drivers come from the UK,” he adds.

That said, it is not easy for anyone starting out fresh in any sport. The same was the case with Enaam. “Like in all sports, you need to invest in the beginning. My parents were willing to support me though, initially, my mother didn’t want me to do this because of the dangers involved. But then I said to her, ‘Please let me follow my dream.’ My parents could also see that I had a talent for racing. Then, when I got to race in Formula Three and was winning, I had sponsors paying for me to race and so it all became really easy.”

And growing up in the UK didn’t draw him to cricket?

Enaam smiles. “I like cricket. There is also football for that matter, but I like cricket more than football. I play a little bit of cricket, not that much. But I will stick to my racing.”

So from go-karting to Formula Four to Formula Three, Enaam will be racing in Formula Two next year.

“Go-karts are not the same as racing cars. They are a bit different, though the same style, as they teach one the foundations of driving and how to race on the track,” says Enaam.

He was go-karting from the age of eight to 14 when he became the world champion as well as the European Champion in go-karting. But at age 15, he started proper car racing.

In 2015, he made his debut in the Motor Sports Association (MSA) for Arden. He finished eighth while winning a race and the Rookie Cup that very year.

“In racing you have to start young, at six or eight like I did. The younger you are the better, because your reflexes are faster when you are young. You can also race until you are 35 or 40, but after that there is deterioration in the brain as your reflexes start slowing down,” he says.

In 2016, Enaam was promoted to Formula Three, driving for Douglas Motorsport, where he finished fifth overall.

Lewis Hamilton is his favourite racer, no doubt about it, but the late Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna comes a close second. “He is also a hero of mine. When I was the Formula Three champion, I ended up winning 13 races in 2017 to break Senna’s record. His 12 wins in 1983 was a record for 34 years until I broke it,” Enaam smiles.

As mentioned earlier, from next year, Enaam will be racing in Formula Two. Obviously, Formula One follows, but he has another dream. “My goal is to race an IndyCar. That’s like the Formula One of America,” he says.

There is a ladder system to get to the main IndyCar series. There is the USF Juniors, the USF2000 National Championship, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship, the Indy Lights and the IndyCar Series. Enaam is looking to race in Indy Lights this year.

His eyes light up when talking about IndyCars. “In America, all racing starts in Indiana, with the biggest race being the Indianapolis 500. IndyCars are similar to Formula One cars. The difference lies in their having American engines rather than European engines,” he explains.

Talking about racing cars, be they IndyCars or Formula cars, Enaam says that they are completely different from normal cars. “Imagine a fighter jet on the track. They are unbelievable machinery. Yes, they do have a break, throttle, clutch and gears, but the way the car is designed and everything, it is a fighter jet, generating G-forces due to so much aerodynamic grip.

“With so much speed around the turns you generate a lot of G-force, so the body will be between 4 to 5G, which is four to five times more than its normal weight, making it so hard to hold oneself in place,” he says.

“Racing cars can be so stiff, so low, so hard on the back and neck. And of course so dangerous. It is the most dangerous sport in the world. So many of my colleagues are still getting killed or injured on a regular basis,” he says.

And isn’t that scary? “No, that’s what makes it fun. Nothing is good without risk. It would be boring otherwise,” Emaad laughs.

He reads my mind then and replies without my having to ask. “Of course, I have been in accidents, many, many times,” he says.

And how do his parents take it? “Well, they worry. My mother prays a lot for me. Also does things to ward off the evil eye. But I also don’t tell them most of the time. Broken ribs … okay I can’t hide that, but other than that, I don’t tell,” he says with a crazy look in his eyes.

It was like a dream come true for Enaam when he met his idol, Lewis Hamilton, in person. “He presented me with one of my awards and while doing it, he told me to never give up, to keep driving and to keep driving fast.”

Enaam is hoping to return to Pakistan in December. When asked what he thought of our roads, he shrugs and says that, instead of commenting on the roads here, he would like to say they have it in them to produce good drivers.

“When I get to racing Formula One, I shall also start looking to do something here for racing,” he says.

The writer is a member of staff

She tweets @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 9th, 2022