LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton may have finished Formula 1's Las Vegas Grand Prix in seventh place. However, he's number one in the hearts of several Clark County School District students.
Fourth-grade teacher Sarah Sunnasy works at Helen Marie Smith Elementary School and is a Formula 1 fan. She said she reached out to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team but didn't think she would hear back.
"It was a pie in the sky kind of thing. We had just had Career Week at my school where we had people from all over the place coming in. We had a couple of lawyers. We had geologists come in," Sunnasy said. "My husband and I are huge F1 fans and fans of Lewis Hamilton. I was like it would be so cool if we could get Lewis to come to our classroom."
Sunnasy said she found contact information for several employees and sent them a message.
"I never thought I would get a response. I was making dinner one night and got a call from a UK number and I ignored it thinking it was a spam call. The next thing I know, I'm getting a call from the communications department at Mercedes-AMG."
According to Sunnasy, she got the call on Monday night and students from her class got to visit the garages and pit building on Wednesday after school. They weren't sure if they were going to get to meet Hamilton due to his schedule. That's when the Mercedes team asked her if the kids could wait until about 5:45 p.m.
"I knew something was up when they gave us different timelines but I didn't let on to the kids that something was going to happen because things change and I didn't want to get their hopes up," Sunnasy said. "They took us back to a hospitality area, gave all the kids sparkling water, orange juice, and passed out chocolate. They were treated like kings. Then, they sat us down in a semi-circle with one chair in the middle. All the kids were looking at me like what's going on? Who's going to sit in the chair?"
That's when Hamilton walked in and Sunnasy said her students were stunned.
"We turned around and they gasped. Some were whispering like oh my goodness. It's Lewis Hamilton," Sunnasy said. "It was amazing. It still feels surreal."
Hamilton spent about 30 minutes with the group and they talked about everything from future career opportunities in STEM to working hard to achieve their dreams.
"There are so many jobs in STEM and math that apply to Formula 1. He kind of went through all the stuff you can do. He asked the kids what they wanted to do when they grow up. One of my kids said he wanted to be a racecar driver because, of course," Sunnasy said laughing. "Later, he changed his answer to dancer. Lewis stood up and we had a mini dance party while he played music from his phone. Most of them were Fortnite dances. He asked if they liked the game. When they said yes, he pulled out his phone and showed them that he was going to be a new Fortnite character."
Sunnasy also said it was special to hear Hamilton echo the same messages that she tries to convey as a teacher. The big one is that her students, regardless of background, can do and be anything they want to be when they grow up.
"I am a white woman. I'll never know what it's like to be a racial minority. I don't know what it's like to be a person of color. To have him come in and say all of these things solidified a lot of the things I've been saying," Sunnasy said. "They can relate to him. They see themselves in him. Just watching my kids' faces, I kept looking at them and there were so in awe and were completely focused on what he was saying. He was patient and kind and you can tell there's a passion for education in Lewis and just with kids in general."
When it was time to go, Sunnasy jokingly said their new Mercedes fandom almost caused a turf war on the grid.
"As we were leaving, we all had signed Mercedes hats and we bumped into Carlos Sainz. He saw them and in his thick Spanish accent said 'you all need Ferrari hats'," Sunnasy said.
She added that the visit has made a difference in her students' lives and she saw a change in her classroom.
"I saw my kid who wants to be a dancer, he has a similar background to Lewis. The next day, he came to school and brought his model car with him. He hasn't stopped wearing his Mercedes hat even though we aren't supposed to wear hats," Sunnasy said. "This opened his eyes to the fact that kids who look like him can grow up and do amazing things. As an educator, that's exactly what we want for our students. We want them to see that nothing is impossible if they work hard."
She said when they came to school on Monday morning, they were even debating the standings and outcome of Saturday night's race.
"I was at the race and some of them knew the standings even better than I did," Sunnasy said. "They're definitely a whole crop of new Lewis Hamilton fans."
As for the future, Sunnasy said she hopes she can continue finding ways to integrate more motor sports into her curriculum to expose her students to future career options.
"I would love to start a radio control car club because that's science and engineering. It's just really expensive to get one of those started. We're in the early stages of trying to figure that out," Sunnasy said. "I'm working on trying to open other doors for these kids that they haven't considered."
This isn't the first time the seven-time world champion has given back to communities that host races. Last month, he hosted a group of students ahead of the Austin Grand Prix.
"We have an opportunity here to have an impact," Hamilton previously told Channel 13. "In Austin, I was able to bring, with my charity, 60 young girls to the track to expose them to what STEM can lead to. I think when we come to these places, we have an opportunity to have an impact on the community."
