With Formula One due to drop its pre-race anti-racism ritual in 2022, Lewis Hamilton says he’s looking forward to seeing the sport deliver on its promise of actions over gestures.
Lewis Hamilton says he’s excited to see how Formula One continues to improve diversity and inclusion in the years ahead.
F1 has operated its ‘We Race As One’ diversity and sustainability programme since the start of the 2020 season, against the backdrop of global anti-racism protests, with motorists also forming at the front of the grid and given the choice to kneel.
Last month, though, F1 chief Stefano Domenicali revealed that the pre-race ritual will be phased out beginning in 2022, stating that the time had come to move away from gestures and toward tangible action, a notion shared by Hamilton.
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“I do think what Stefano said made sense, that it’s about action now, and so that’s something that I look forward and welcome to seeing over a period of time,” said Hamilton on the sidelines of F1’s first pre-season test at Barcelona.
Hamilton’s F1 diversity push
Hamilton, who made his Formula One debut in 2007, is still the only black driver to have competed in a Grand Prix 15 years later, and has been a prominent advocate for greater diversity and inclusion in F1 and motorsport.
The Hamilton Commission was founded in 2020 by the Britishman to look into why there are so few black individuals in motorsport, with initiatives including as teams adopting a diversity and inclusion charter.
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“I had a great call last year with all the teams about getting included in this charter, so every team’s trying to push for diversity,” said Hamilton, adding that he felt the combination of many different messages into one ceremony may have diluted their impact.
“I did feel that, with the overall slogan last year compiling [different issues] into one [ceremony], I think we can do more and be more impactful somehow, but I don’t know what that is yet,” he commented.
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