Lewis Hamilton has extended his criticism of Formula One’s stance against racism with a broadside against teams that have made no effort to address the problem. The British driver believes the teams should be compelled to act by F1’s management and the governing body, the FIA.
Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday and now leads the world championship. Afterwards, however, he berated F1 and fellow drivers for the disorganised way the pre-race gesture against racism had been handled in Budapest. Some drivers did not attend, some were late, others did not wear the “End Racism” T-shirts and the moment was rushed and shambolic.
His Mercedes team have publicly backed the anti-racism agenda, running their car in black livery this season and establishing a diversity and inclusion programme to address their own shortcomings. The team have been honest in revealing that only 3% of its workforce comes from a minority ethnic group and 12% of its employees are female.
Hamilton, F1’s only black driver, is convinced that other F1 teams should follow suit and that they should be led to do so by the president of the FIA, Jean Todt.
“There are nine other teams and only one that I have spoken to are working on this in the background,” he said. “There is no other team I know of that hold themselves accountable. Where is Jean in that scenario? It shouldn’t be me that has to call the teams out, that should be discussed from the top down, by the powers that pull the strings.”
The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has said the diversity and anti-racism issue cannot simply be dropped now the season is under way and Hamilton believes greater collective action is required, similar to the Mercedes stance. “All I can affect is my sport and we are not doing it anywhere near enough,” he said. “It is across the board – I need to do more, the sport needs to do more.
“I continue to be really proud of my team, my team has held themselves accountable and tried to follow through. You have not seen that from any other brand. No other teams have said they will hold themselves accountable. Maybe that is why the drivers aren’t following through.”
Elsewhere, Ferrari’s team principal, Mattia Binotto, has conceded there will be no quick fix to solve the Scuderia’s woeful start to the season. Their car lacks power on the straights and pace through the corners and they lie fifth in the constructors’ championship. In Hungary Sebastian Vettel finished sixth and Charles Leclerc 11th.Ferrari brought upgrades to the race but Binotto admitted the team had yet to actually understand the reasons their car is not performing as expected.
“It will take a long time because it is not something that is addressed in a few weeks,” he said. “Patience will be required. When you need to improve all the areas, because we are lacking speed in all the areas, it is not something that a simple trick will address or simple solution or simple package. It will take time. How long? I do not have the answer yet.”