Despite the Downward F1 Spiral, Lewis Hamilton’s Philanthropic Change Initiative Gets the Priority Push From Toto Wolff

It wasn’t too long ago when Lewis Hamilton talked about his duties in F1 going way beyond just winning races. That was because he realizes that F1 is a giant platform for him to raise his voice for inclusivity and diversity. And as they often say, ‘be the change you want to see in the world’ the Briton started with his team, Mercedes. Team boss Toto Wolff, in a recent interview with his daughter Rosa, opened up on that commitment on behalf of the Silver Arrows.

Earlier this year, Hamilton sat down for a long talk with podcaster Jay Shetty where they talked about the aspects of his life outside of F1. It revealed how passionate the man from Stevenage is when it comes to fighting racial discrimination. He also opened up about assuming the duty to promote inclusivity in any and every organization he engages with. Toto’s recent comments show that Mercedes is certainly that place where they take their social responsibilities very seriously.

In an interview with Acker, he told, “As a team, we believe very strongly that performance can be measured by diversity. Racing has probably always been more of a “white, middle-aged men” environment, but we are changing that. We have a program called Accelerate 25, which aims to hire at least 25 percent of all new hires from underrepresented groups. This refers to gender, cultural background, religion or skin color. We got 38 percent in the first year. I’m very proud of that.”

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Toto also talked about how people from different backgrounds bring in different perspectives. And that, in the long run for the team, allows them to make better decisions.

Lewis Hamilton feels he is the “lone ranger” in the fight for diversity in F1

Being the only black athlete in the sport, Hamilton was always vocal on the issue of race. He also criticized F1 for the lack of diversity in their workforce. His crusade went up a notch or two during the widespread protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. Since then, he believes the top management in F1 has been sensitized a lot more.

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, he said, “There wasn’t change, any movement until 2020, or 2021 really. These last couple of years, you’re starting to see some change but before that, was the lone ranger. Couldn’t really talk on the subject as it would just be, ‘oh, you’re the angry black man’. It was a difficult and very narrow path to walk, and a very long path to walk.”

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According to the man himself, F1 has progressed a lot in the last 2 years in terms of sensitivity to diversity. It would be interesting to see if more athletes, in other sports as well, follow Lewis’ footsteps to make their sports more welcoming to people of different backgrounds.