7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed the biggest struggle he’s come up against throughout his long career in motorsports, and it’s no one surprising.
While the British driver faced extreme difficulty during the 2022 season, since entering the sport in 2007 he’s had immense success. Over the years he’s had 191 podium finishes, 103 pole positions, and 103 race wins, and ties with Michael Schumacher as a 7-time world champ.
But one thing has constantly been in his way, and that’s his skin colour.
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Talking with BBC One of the series, We Are England, the Mercedes driver admitted that being the “only person of colour” at his races was one of the “biggest difficulties”:
“I think the biggest difficulties were the difference in race, being the only person of color at the track apart from my dad,” Hamilton admitted.
“There’s a lack of diversity through the top of big, big organisations, companies, all the way down.
“There’s very, very little black leadership so I put this commission together to find out what those barriers are for young under-served communities trying to get into this sport.”
2020 saw the launch of the Hamilton Commission, which found that only 1% of those in F1 were black. Since then his team, led by Toto Wolff, has worked to increase diversity within its walls through a new Accelerate 25 scheme. Since its launch in 2021, 38% of new employees have been from under-represented backgrounds.
“Well the problem with our sport is it is expensive,” Hamilton continued. “But there are a lot of people out there today, companies that are looking at improving diversity and inclusion.
“There’s a lot of companies out there that want to be partnered with the right message.
“It’s not just what you do on track, but it’s also how you present yourself. How you handle yourself when you lose.”
Hamilton’s work here alongside Mercedes is vital for the sport which continues to grow in popularity.
