Sir Lewis Hamilton has called out other Formula One teams for not doing more to promote diversity in motorsport.
His comments come just weeks after he and Mercedes launched a charitable foundation to promote diversity in motorsport and STEM subjects as part of the contract extension they signed last month.
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Speaking during a virtual press conference today which was attended by Formula1News.co.uk and took place shortly after the Silver Arrows unveiled the W12, Hamilton praised Mercedes for supporting his initiative.
“I’m very, very proud of Mercedes for being open-minded to change. Not just taking the smallest of steps, but really taking a step back and seeing what we can do,” Hamilton said.
“We’ve done a real deep dive of what we can do here […] so for them to be open to putting a foundation together and putting some money towards pushing for real systematic change within our own organisation is fantastic.
“If we really do what we’re planning to do, I really think we can create and open up pathways for young minorities to get into STEM subjects and I’m really hopeful in the future we’ll see it being more diverse, because it just works out better for everyone.”
Continuing, the seven-time World Champion said: “I’m not aware of any other team doing that, I’m not aware of any other team acknowledging that this is even an issue.
“Those are things I feel that need to change this year, and it goes back to accountability. We can all do more,” he added.
Hamilton’s remarks come just days after the Mulberry Schools Trust and Mercedes hosted their first Mulberry STEM Academy event for 2021 scholars on 27 February.
The virtual event was led by Mercedes technical director James Allison and aimed to inspire the attendees, most of whom are of a minority background, to pursue a career in engineering or study a STEM degree at university.
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