Formula 1: Lewis Hamiltion Calls For Diversity In Motorsport, Set To Launch A Commission

Lewis Hamilton has embarked on a massive project themed The Hamilton Commission which he purposely designed to improve on diversity in motorsport. To the Mercedes pilot, it is time for the sport to rightly reflect the spectrum of ethnicities as it is in society. 

The six-time Formula 1 champion who has been outspoken for the Black Lives Matter protest over the unlawful death of an African American named George Floyd at the hands of the police, argued that having just him as the only black hire in motorsport is not enough. 

In an effort to bring about change in terms of diversity in the sport, he intended to use his "energy, influence and investment" to bring about that. He explained in a column that he wrote for The Sunday Times that "institutional barrier" yet persist in F1 despite his success.

He explained further that just him alone in the sport as "a single new black hire" does not really reflect the necessary progress the sport needs to make in terms of diversity, stating that "thousands of people are employed across this industry and that group needs to be more representative of society."

Out of the six world championships that the 35-year-old has won in his career, five are with Mercedes and both parties are expected to continue their relationship beyond the end of this season as the Team principal Toto Wolff has indicated the team's interest to enter into another contract with the Briton. 

Explaining how people from an ethnic minority background can be gainfully employed in the sport or other engineering sectors he wrote, "For this reason, I have been working with the Royal Academy of Engineering to create The Hamilton Commission, a research partnership dedicated to exploring how motorsport can be useful as a vehicle to engage more young people from black backgrounds with  Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects."