'Why give these older voices a platform? – we must look to future' says Hamilton

F1

Lewis Hamilton has commented on "archaic narratives" which he believes have long directed criticism at him, and his own efforts to encourage change

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JUNE 30: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes talks in the Drivers Press Conference during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on June 30, 2022 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Hamilton has given his thoughts after a controversial week in F1

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton has given his thoughts after a week of controversial incidents in Formula 1, with the seven-time champion saying “I don’t know why we’re still giving these older voices a platform.”

Nelson Piquet issued an apology to Hamilton yesterday after an interview made last year broadcast the Brazilian using what has been interpreted as a racially discriminatory term to refer to the Mercedes driver.

“I can’t believe that what I heard today” Lewis Hamilton

Bernie Ecclestone has also surprised some today by saying he would “take a bullet” for Russian president Vladimir Putin, and junior driver Juri Vips was let go by Red Bull on the same days as the Piquet statement after using a racially abusive term on a Twitch stream several weeks ago.

Hamilton was quizzed on a number of issues in a wide-ranging British GP press conference which focused heavily on the Mercedes driver, including his own initiatives to tackle prejudice and discrimination, but also on comments made by those such as Ecclestone.

“To hear from someone that ultimately believes in the war, displacement of millions of people, in the killing of 1000s of people, the person that’s doing it [Putin] that they [Ecclestone] support them – I mean, that’s beyond me,” he said.

“I can’t believe that what I heard today.”

Brazilian 1981, 1983 and 1987 Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet at the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on the 27 April 2008. (Photo by Darren Heath/Getty Images)

Piquet has now moved to apologise to Hamilton – but the driver believes the situation represents a wider problem

Darren Heath/Getty Images

Hamilton was inevitably quizzed on the Piquet incident, but the former said he considered it in wider terms.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and criticism and that negativity in archaic narratives for a long, long time,” he said when asked if the matter with the Brazilian was now closed.

“So there’s nothing really particularly new for me – I think it’s more about the bigger picture.

“I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform because they’re speaking up on our sport, and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different. It’s not representative – I think – of who we are as a sport now and where we are we planning to go.

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“If we’re looking to grow our audience in the US, in South Africa and other countries, we need to be looking to the future and giving the younger people a platform that is more representative of today’s time, and who we are trying to be and the direction that we’re going.

“It’s not just about one individual. It’s not about just that one use of that term – it’s the bigger picture.”

When asked if he felt the strong reaction in the wider motor sport community to the comments represented progress, Hamilton said he believed there was more scope for positive change.

“You[‘ve] got to imagine that everyone’s PR agency, or PR people have already a script ready for something like that – crisis management,” he said.

“As I said, it just comes back down to the media, which should not be giving these people a platform.

“These older voices – whether subconscious or consciously – do not agree that people like me, for example, should be in a sport like this, do not agree women should be here. Discrimination is not something we should be projecting and promoting, and giving a platform to divide people.

“We’re living in such a difficult time in the world, we need people to be bringing people together.

“We’re all the same, and it is not helpful, these comments that we’re seeing.

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on June 30, 2022 in Northampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Mercedes driver expressed his frustration that not all teams have yet signed up the Hamilton Commission charter

Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images

“I don’t think a day’s gone by [in my career] that some of the older [voices] that have not really been in or relevant in our sport for decades, [haven’t been] trying to say negative things or try to bring me down, but I’m still here, I’m still standing strong, and I’m focused on my work in really trying to push for diversity and inclusion within our organisation.

“It’s been two years since many of us first took the knee in Austria and, of course, we’re still faced with the challenges.”

In 2020 Mercedes driver set up the Hamilton Commission, with the aim of identifying what aspects were holding back certain ethnic groups from becoming involved in the world of motor sport, then putting in a plan to tackle this.

It created a charter for F1 teams to sign, agreeing to the recommendations as a result of its findings, however Hamilton expressed his frustration that not all the outfits are yet behind the initiative.

“I’ve been on calls with all the F1 teams who all agreed to be a part of this charter and it’s still not signed, it’s still not underway,” he said.

“It’s all well and good standing on the grid and they talk about all the inclusivity, but it’s just empty words.

“This is a growing business. Teams are making more money than they’ve ever made before, but we’re yet to see real funds put in [to F1’s Diversity and Inclusion programme], I’m willing to bet it’s not as much as we’ve put in.”

Additionally, the seven-time champion has been behind the Mercedes team’s Ignite initiative, which will focus on helping groups lesser represented in racing, and has a £5m fund available to do so.

It has now announced its inaugural grants, awarded to Motorsport UK and the Royal Academy of Engineering, which will respectively organise programmes on helping females become involved in grassroots motor sport and Masters-level motor sport engineering scholarships for Black students.

“When I sat down with Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss] a year ago, I said that I don’t want to just be a driver for the team anymore,” Hamilton explained.

Lewis Hamilton with Michael Jordan David BEckham and Tom BRady at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix

Hamilton is continuing to his status as a world star to push for more change

Twitter @TomBrady

“One of the things that we’re working on is having 10 Black students being given scholarships for motor sports and not only that, once they graduate, [to] have a role, either with us in our team or also within the sport.”

“I think we’re just living in a time where there’s been a lot of people [that] have said that they’re supportive through these last couple of years, but a lot of [it is paying] lip service and we are not doing that, we’re actually about action.

“We’re putting our money where our mouth is, and so I’m really proud. I’m putting my own money in and I’m out trying to raise money also. I think we need to get everyone naturally on board to do something, because we can’t do it alone.”

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