Lewis Hamilton says the sport needs more diversity

In Brazil, for the dispute of the São Paulo F1 GP, this Sunday (14), the Englishman Lewis Hamilton stated that the world sport needs to be more inclusive. At 36, he says he prides himself on using his success in the world’s top motorsport category to promote diversity.

“We need the sport to be more diverse, to better reflect the world as a whole. This is not just in our industry [esportiva], but in all industries. We have to make our sport more inclusive and reflect the face of the planet. This has been one of my goals,” stated the Englishman, during an interview this Wednesday afternoon (10).

After winning the world title seven times, the Mercedes driver says he still has many goals in F1 and that one of them is precisely to continue his work of promoting social causes.

“When I started in this sport, I always tried to understand what my purpose was. And when I started, I was the only black driver. that I always have more work to do. And I’m very proud of the work I’ve been doing with Mercedes, together with our partners, for more diversity,” he said.

Hamilton is currently also leading a project aimed at training black teachers in science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

With this, English intends to increase the diversity among teachers and encourage black students to be more interested in these subjects. It is the first initiative of his institution, Mission 44, which has a partnership with the Teach First institute.

“​This is the biggest source of pride for me. We are only at the beginning of this work,” he said. “We also learned from the Black Lives Matter movement, and through that we learned that it is not just in education that there are barriers, but it is a systemic issue. And this is not just in the UK, this it’s all over the planet. Brazil, for example, has a very large black population.”

A declared fan of Ayrton Senna, Hamilton also showed a strong connection with other sportsmen in Brazil, such as Neymar, Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira, athletes he admires.

“I have a lot of contact with Neymar. I even spoke with him today. I know that football is a passion of Brazilians, but I also know that you have amazing surfers here, Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira, I really enjoy watching performance that is inspiring,” stated the British driver.

Finally, Hamilton also highlighted how the 2021 F1 World Cup has been one of the most competitive in recent years. He is currently the runner-up, with 293.5 points, and is behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who has 312.5.

“This year is one of the most interesting times for competitiveness. The teams are very competitive. And we have a very close battle with the other teams.”

The start of the São Paulo GP this Sunday (14), in Interlagos, will be at 2 pm. Band transmits.