Several Formula 1 drivers backed Lewis Hamilton’s call for teams to support a charter to encourage greater diversity and inclusion of people from under-represented backgrounds in the sport.
They gave their support to Hamilton’s diversity initiative, proposed by his Hamilton Commission last year, following the widespread criticism of Nelson Piquet’s use of a racist term when referring to Hamilton in an interview which emerged recently.
The three-times world champion apologised for using an offensive term to refer to Hamilton in the 2021 interview conducted in Portuguese, but claimed there was no racist intention behind its use.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Hamilton urged all 10 F1 teams to sign up to a charter proposed by his Hamilton Commission and take steps to encourage greater diversity and inclusion of people from under-represented backgrounds.
“We really need F1 and all the teams that have committed to signing this F1 charter that I’ve done, with the Hamilton Commission, to work and also to put funds towards [diversity and inclusion],” he said. “It’s not good enough just saying we are also focused on it and just lip service.”
“I’ve been on calls with all the F1 teams who all agreed to be a part of this F1 charter and it’s still not signed and it’s still not underway,” he added.
Many of Hamilton’s fellow drivers voiced their support for efforts to increase participation of people from under-represented groups in Formula 1, including AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
“We’ve got to be united in a fight and Lewis is the biggest ambassador we have in our sport and it needs to go beyond our sport,” he said in yesterday’s FIA press conference.
“I think in the society of today we need to set an example to all the people out there and I’ll push my team and I’ll do anything that’s possible within our organisation, all of us as drivers, [the Grand Prix Drivers Association], anything that’s possible, we need to set an example and we cannot let these things happen.”
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Williams driver Nicholas Latifi questioned why some teams on the grid would not have already signed up to the Hamilton Commission charter.
“Me personally, I’m not 100% aware of why it hasn’t been signed yet,” said Latifi. “Maybe that’s something that I could inquire about with my team, particularly.
“I think we’re all sitting here on the same page about what is still wrong…
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