Lewis Hamilton has expressed his disappointment at teams’ failure to sign a charter designed to improve diversity and inclusion in the sport.
Hamilton, as the only black driver on the grid, has been a strong supporter of improving diversity in F1 and has established his own foundation, Mission 44, aimed at increasing education and opportunities for under represented communities.
As part of his activism and prominence in the sport, Hamilton has been the subject of racist abuse from the likes of Nelson Piquet and has also faced criticism from former head of the sport Bernie Ecclestone for criticising racist comments.
Speaking before the British Grand Prix, Hamilton said he wants to see actions, not just words, and called on teams to sign a charter that would boost inclusion.
“Not to sound like a broken record, but I think accountability is important,” the seven-time World Champion said. “And it’s not just with F1, also with your companies. It’s really making sure we take a stand and we’re giving these people that platform.
“We want people to be able to be themselves in our space and it’s all well and good standing on the grid, and they talk about all the inclusivity, and all the other four or five things, I would say but they’re just empty words, if we’re not actually putting action in.
We are delighted to launch Mission 44 – a new Foundation, founded by @LewisHamilton, to boost social mobility in the U.K.
Our vision is of a fair and inclusive society where all young people can fulfil their potential.
— Mission 44 (@mission44) July 28, 2021
“This is a growing business, there’s more money, teams are making more money than they’ve ever made before and they’ll continue to grow in doing so. I’m not aware of all the other funds that have been put towards diversity and inclusion, but I’d be willing to bet it’s not as much as we firstly already put in and are planning to put in.
“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. But no more can we be amplifying these voices that are just creating that divide out there.”
Some of Hamilton’s grid colleagues were alongside him when he made those comments and Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri said he would be putting pressure on his team to sign the charter.
“That’s obvious to me because we [have] got to be united in a fight and Lewis is the biggest ambassador we have in…
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