WeeklySA_AdminBOLD DECISION: Hamilton conscious about negative forces along the way but that won’t stop his fight for inclusion and diversity
By Sports Reporter
Sir Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he was concerned about racism he could face in Italy prior to signing for Ferrari.
Before the start of the last Formula 1 season, Hamilton made the bold decision to leave Mercedes after 12 highly successful years and join Ferrari in 2025.
The transfer is arguably the biggest in F1 history, uniting the sport’s most successful driver and most successful team – but it nearly didn’t happen.
The seven-time world champion is the sport’s first and only black driver and has been subject to racist abuse throughout his racing career, including when he was karting in Italy aged just 12.
Hamilton is also all too aware of the abuse aimed at black footballers playing in Serie A, including Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku who has been targeted by monkey chants and had bananas thrown at them by fans.
As such, the British driver did have some reservations about moving to Ferrari’s home in Italy, telling TIME: ‘It definitely crossed my mind when I was thinking about my decision. ‘It’s often such a small group of people that set that trend for many. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.’
Thankfully, Hamilton could not have got a better reception from Ferrari’s passionate Italian fanbase, with thousands of Tifosi travelling to Maranello just to get a glimpse of their new hero driving a red car for the first time.
Hamilton also hit back at his critics who have questioned his move to Ferrari, with some former F1 drivers, team principals and chiefs claiming the Scuderia were wrong to hire him and axe Carlos Sainz.
‘I never reply to any of the older, ultimately white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing,’ the 40-year-old added.
‘How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.’ In 2021, Hamilton launched Mission 44, a programme aimed to ‘support, champion and empower young people from underrepresented groups to succeed’ in motorsport.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programmes have been targeted by US President Donald Trump who has prioritised dismantling such initiatives since returning to the White House, but Hamilton says he is not deterred.
‘I’m not going to change what [Trump] does, or the government does – all I can do is try to make sure that in my space, in my environment, I’m trying to elevate people,’ he added. ‘There’s going to be forces along the way that don’t want that, for whatever reason I can’t fathom. That doesn’t stop me. It is a fight that we’ll just keep fighting.’
Hamilton is currently gearing up for the new season which is promising to be one of the most open and competitive championships for years, with Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes all set to fight for the title.
The Brit topped the timesheets in the morning session of day two of pre-season testing in Bahrain, with the test set to conclude on Friday ahead of the first race in Australia on March 16.
