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LONDON. — Lewis Hamilton says his 16-year Formula One career has been “genuinely quite a lonely journey” as the Mercedes star spoke about the lack of diversity within the sport.
The seven-time world champion, who is the only black driver in F1, appeared on Good Morning America on Monday in New York, with the 37-year-old in the United States ahead of the Miami Grand Prix this weekend.
It is F1’s first visit to Miami and alongside speaking about F1’s ”booming” popularity stateside, Hamilton spoke about his mission to improve diversity within the sport with the Hamilton Commission, set up in 2020.
“It’s been genuinely quite a lonely journey,” he said on the popular ABC show.
“Me and my family were the only black family. I’ve been racing 29 years, I’m 37 now. But I’ve been professional for 16 years and always most often being the only person of colour in the room.
“And when I asked the question there was no real great feedback answer to that question so I put together the Hamilton Commission because it starts with education and understanding.” .The Hamilton Commission was set up to “improve the representation of Black people in UK motorsport.”
Hamilton has previously opened up on his own painful experiences with racism in the sport and on Monday he explained how diversity is still a problem within Formula One.
“We put together this body of research to try and understand what those barriers are,” Hamilton continued on GMA.
“We found there are not only in our industry where we have over 40 000 jobs but only one per cent come from black backgrounds, but there are real systemic issues within the educational system as well.
“With the Hamilton Commission we’ve now started mission 44 which I’ve funded myself to try and create more representation, support and empowerment for these young under-served groups.”
Mission 44, with Hamilton pledging £20m, will support ”organisations and programmes that narrow the gap in employment and education systems, through partnerships, collaborations, grant giving and advocacy”.
Last October, in an interview with WSJ magazine, Hamilton said he was left ”frustrated and sad” when the jarring realisation that nothing had changed hit him at the end of the 2019 season.
Looking at a photo of him and his team celebrating his sixth straight title, he realised that despite all those seasons he spent trailblazing, he was still the only black person.
“I zoomed in on them, from the F1 Instagram,” he said. “I’ve been here 15 years, 14 years — how has it not changed? I was really sad about it. I was frustrated and sad.”
“I’m 36 years old; I’ve been wondering, ‘Why me?’ Why am I the only black driver that’s got through to Formula One, and not only that — I’m at the front? There’s got to be a bigger reason for me being here.”
Hamilton also recalled that in 2008 Spanish Formula One fans showed up in blackface while wearing shirts that read “Hamilton’s Family,” before trying to claim that blackface and offensive T-shirts somehow weren’t racist. — Mailonline
Online Reporter