Seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement provided him with extra motivation to perform well last season.
“I had this extra drive in me this year to get to the end of those races. It was a different drive than what I’ve had in me in the past… to get to the end of those races first so that I could utilise that platform [for Black Lives Matter] and shine the light as bright as possible,” Hamilton said.
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Hamilton, who won the 2020 F1 Drivers’ Championship to equal Michael Schumacher’s record, is an ardent supporter of the BLM movement.
Following the death of George Floyd in May, Hamilton used his profile and standing in Formula One to campaign for justice for Floyd and others, like Breonna Taylor, killed in similarly tragic circumstances.
He also established the Hamilton Foundation earlier this year in a bid to encourage young members of the black community to get into motorsport in various different capacities.
“There are many other young kids of colour that deserve the opportunity to progress, have a great education, be an engineer or whatever it is they want,” the Mercedes driver said
“But the fact is, the opportunity is not the same for them,” Lewis Hamilton added.
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