Hamilton: 'Ecclestone comments show why F1 didn't tackle racism in the past'

F1

Lewis Hamilton has criticised Bernie Ecclestone's "ignorant and uneducated" comments about racism and F1's role

Lewis Hamilton

Florent Gooden / DPPI

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“If someone who has run the sport for decades has such a lack of understanding of the deep rooted issues we as black people deal with every day, how can we expect all the people who work under him to understand. It starts at the top.

“Now the time has come for change. I will not stop pushing to create an inclusive future for our sport with equal opportunity for all.

“To create a world that provides equal opportunity for minorities. I will continue to use my voice to represent those who don’t have one, and to speak for those who are underrepresented to provide an opportunity to have a chance in our sport.’

Hamilton referred to his own experience of racism at the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, when some spectators arrived in blackface, with t-shirts that read ‘Hamilton’s family’

“I remember this like it was yesterday,” he wrote. “The damage things like this do to people is unacceptable”.

Ecclestone’s comments have also been criticised by Formula 1, which this week launched a new initiative to increase diversity in the sport.

It which issued a statement saying, “We completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that have no place in Formula 1 or society.”

Ecclestone had been Chairman Emeritus of F1 since seeing the sports commercial rights to Liberty Media in 2017. This title expired in January 2020, said F1.