Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he is asked “multiple times in a day” to support a new community or campaign, with the 37-year-old being known as a public activist who fights relentlessly for diversity and inclusion.
Whilst the Brit has long been an activist, his work was really put into the spotlight following the start of ‘Black Lives Matter’, a campaign which was started following the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis back in 2020.
Since then, the Mercedes driver has started the Hamilton Commission, which tries to get more black people into motorsport.
He’s gone on to collaborate with the German team to create Accelerate 25, a five-year project which is trying to ensure that 25-percent of new colleagues come from under-represented groups.
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As well as that, the 103-time Grand Prix winner also founded Mission 44, a charitable foundation which is attempting to change the lives of young people from undeserved backgrounds.
Quite clearly, Hamilton is no stranger to throwing himself into new campaigns and communities, which is commonly why he is asked by so many to join as an ambassador.
The Brit has admitted, though, that he’s discovered he “can’t do everything”, although some approaches to him have “hit a nerve” over the years.
“There are so many things that I’ll see and I’m like ‘Shoot’, and it hits a nerve,” said Hamilton to The New York Times.
“You’re like ‘Okay, I’ll speak out’. I speak about a lot of different things. Caring is a good thing, and it doesn’t matter what it is you’re caring about. I personally think you can care for as many things as you want.
“But I’m definitely finding you can’t do everything and you’re only one person. I’ve definitely learned how to really narrow it down and put as much energy and focus into a particular area.”
Hamilton went on to discuss an event he attended prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix at the British Embassy in Brasilia, where he met “so many different people from different NGOs [non-governmental organisations] telling me the things they’re fighting for”.
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Hamilton added: “In that moment, I was like ‘I want to learn more about it’, so I’ll go away and read about it. I’m going to be on so many flights reading about what these different NGOs are doing.
“I’m being asked every day, multiple times in the day, to be ambassadors for so many different organisations. There’s this clear cry for help. There are so many people trying to do big important things and impactful things.
“I’ve just got to remember there’s only so much of me, and so what I just try to do is praise them. Hopefully, that brings more eyes, and maybe me being there also helps bring eyes to what they’re doing.”