Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2018

Hamilton: Pay gaps show “we’re still in the stone age”

2018 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton says the earnings inequality women and non-white sportspeople face reflects a culture which is “still in the stone age”.

He made the comments at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve today in response to a recently-published list of the 100 highest-paid sportspeople, none of which are women.

“I’m not aware of the different earnings rates within Formula One,” said Hamilton, “but that just shows you how behind we are in the world.

“There’s no reason why a woman should not be able to earn more.”

Hamilton singled out tennis star and personal friend Serena Williams as an example of a female sportsperson who he believes deserves to earn more.

“Serena is in the top three of the greatest athletes of all time above a lot of, if not all, the people on that list, so it is a big, big question why,” he said.

“Women rule the world and I don’t understand. It just shows you we are still in the stone age and that needs to change. When will it change? I don’t know.

“Serena has already spoken of how difficult it is. She has been up against Maria Sharapova and she had more results than Maria but Maria – and not just her but other, particularly white players she was playing against – were earning more money than her. Yet her results were higher.

“That’s still the fight we have in society today. It still takes some time to change it.”

Hamilton placed 12th on the list, which was published by Forbes. The only other F1 drivers featured are Sebastian Vettel in 18th and Fernando Alonso in 39th.

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98 comments on “Hamilton: Pay gaps show “we’re still in the stone age””

  1. Let’s be controversial
    1 – Hamilton haven’t said how much would he agree to cut from his payment to foster equality – with women and non european sportpeople.
    2 – Which sportwoman could replace in their respective disciplines one of the male sportperson.
    3 -Is he saying that tennis organization pay less to Willams than to Sharapova or Sharapova has more businesses opportunities than Williams?
    4 – Why can’t everybody be paid the same as a 4 times F1 champion? I think I didnt any mexican on the list, so Perez deserves a raise.

    1. Also, when was deciding which gender ruled the world, what was the process behind that, a coin toss or a call to his pr-manager? Cant really think of many more than those two.

      Would be amazing if people who are trying to push for good reasonable things to happen we more reasonable themselves. Would spare quite a lot of negativity and controversy around a subject that deserves none.

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      8th June 2018, 14:56

      If it’s legal to pay women less, then hire only women. Problem solved.

      1. jesus wept give me strength, the gender pay gap has been debunked over and over and over again and still people keep trotting it out

        That´s it for me and Hamilton, He apologised for bantering with his nephew about wearing a dress and now this? I´m switching over to the ¨lewis is a knob¨ camp.

        1. No, it hasn’t.

          1. Yes it has, you’re shot sightedness and ideological possession does not change this fact, the gender pay gap has multiple reasons but most common are a woman’s choice to leave the workplace to have a family and a preference for lower risk jobs that pay less plus jobs in the humanities or health care.

            A great many clinical and social psychologists have looked into this and the data is in, the studies have been done, we know that women are not being oppressed with low wages.

  2. So, Serena earning less than Maria is stone age, but Lewis earning way more than the supposedly best driver of the field, Fernando, and the guy that until yesterday had more titles than him, Seb, all white dudes btw, is progress? Hmm…

    For who?

    Where’s Pacquiao compared to Maywheater btw? Why there are no white dudes from NBA at the top? For the sake of Lewis’ argument, shouldn’t a mixed guy like Curry earn some more bucks over LeBron, since he has less melanine?

    Ooooh, the agenda!

    1. Or Lewis earning more than the combined bottom earning drivers on the grid. I’m not saying there anything wrong with that, because this is about how generates revenue. But since he wants to talk about inequality…

    2. YellowSubmarine
      8th June 2018, 3:29

      but Lewis earning way more than the supposedly best driver of the field, Fernando

      Except, of course, that the rookie Lewis beat Fernando in 2007, so Fernando can never be “the best driver of the field” while Lewis still drives.

      1. but Lewis earning way more than the supposedly best driver of the field, Fernando

        You are welcome.

      2. FlatSix (@)
        8th June 2018, 7:23

        I very much believe both Vettel and Lewis are a step above Alonso, but that’s hardly because Lewis beat him in 2007…

      3. @YellowSubmarine A constantly repeated silly argument. It’s the same as saying Vettel is better than Hamilton because he beat him in one race. And that championship was eleven years ago. I’m not saying Alonso is superior to Lewis, but repeating that insipid 2007 argument actually diminishes Hamilton’s career accomplishments. Mere hyper-fan drivel.

    3. Fernando the best? Last win please?

      1. Supposedly.

    4. @Niefer Get that nonsense out your head, Alonso ain’t the best. Hamilton owned Alonso despite Alonso had NO1 status for like six races, was gifted the Monaco win etc.

      1. Supposedly (2).

    5. Cumulatively Lewis won 9 out of 10 drivers and constructors championships. I don’t see Fernando bringing all those money to his team, so I don’t expect them to repay him that high.

      Unfortunately for our tastes, the only meter deciding who is the best driver is the final standings each year.

      1. Supposedly (3).

  3. It is one thing having a man and a woman, in the same company or industry doing very similar work, and making substantially different money. It’s completely different to compare athletes. I don’t think any reasonable person would suggest that a woman should be anywhere near Lionel Messi, Lebron James, or Roger Federer in terms of salary.

    Clearly it’s related to how much revenue they generate. Women’s leagues and sports are almost without exception less popular than man’s. Substantially so. Yes, Serena is the absolute best at women’s tennis. As dominant as Federer in men’s tennis. However, Serena missed the cut because she played less, she’s pregnant. Also keep in mind that most of the money Federer made was endorsements (~$65M). Is Serena Williams as marketable as Roger Federer? You are entitled to your opinion, but the resounding answer is NO. Marketers are interested in selling products and services; making money. Also, the only woman worthy is being even discussed is Serena Williams. No other female athlete is anywhere near as dominant in a league or sport that draws significant number of viewers.

  4. I think Lewis is spot on here. A great example is the US women’s soccer team which is arguably the best in the world and some of their players weren’t making livable wages let alone millions of dollars until a few years ago.

    1. No one cares about the women’s USA soccer team. lol

    2. Women football is miles away from men football. They are being paid to their level..

    3. I’m the best in the world at left-footed bunny hopping over rough terrain, and I’m also not making millions of dollars! It’s outrageous!

      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        8th June 2018, 10:02

        The right footers get all the glory

    4. You are clearly not a soccer fan because for the womens level of skill of the american team, in europe men are not even payed. Its top amateur level.
      All the mens payed divions in european countries have a higher level.

  5. Really? Should I even start on this with FACTS! or should I just let it go?…….

    I will say this Dieter Rencken and Keith Collantine you should be ashamed of yourselves that you report on this rubbish, I also loved the countless articles on Hamilton and Veganism that were just so thrilling also, but on this subject you have a responsibility to write a thought piece correcting Hamilton when his comments are far from accurate or not the full truth in relation to social issues.

    I’m losing faith in you both very fast.

    1. Totally agree and what has been said has as usual been misinterpreted by the Hamilton hate brigade.

    2. This is a free website.

      Please allow Kieth his clickbait.

      1. I may have to start paying for prime on Motorsport.com perish the thought and may God have mercy.

    3. you have a responsibility to write a thought piece correcting Hamilton

      hilarious

      1. I’m becoming an angry old man well before my time, what can I say? lol

    4. I sense a very fragile man here. I’m sorry you need to be shieldes from opinions you don’t happen to agree with. Sad days for free speech

    5. I completely agree. Trashing Lewis’ ignorant opinions on this topic with facts and economic analysis would be easier than shooting fish in a barrel, and I’m not going to bother. However, Keith Collantine should be called out for publishing this ridiculous nonsense.

    6. So is your point that sports journalists should set out to ‘correct’ sportspeople in general or just when it comes to sociopolitical points that grind you in particular?

      1. This article is trash. The subject is irrelevant.

    7. I think you better let go and simply change your source. I don’t see Racefans sharing Hamilton’s view here, I see them reporting what he said. And reporting the reigning WC is just what I expect them to do. Then, I can take my position and discuss here but I don’t see RF doing anything wrong.

      1. They’re peddling falsehoods and fabrications by printing this nonsense. It grinds my gears as I expect better.

    8. This website is becoming the social justice version of an F1 site.

      Look around Kieth, Buzzfeed, Jezebel, Gawker etc… Social Justice nonsense kills businesses because it is a load o marxists bullsht that most people disagree with.

      Don’t follow them down the slippery slope to failure.

      Hamilton rightly deserves to be corrected and ridiculed for his ridiculous assertion that Serena Williams gets paid less because she is black and a woman. He obviously has not thought it through or he is getting bad information.

  6. chris97 (@chrismichaelaoun)
    8th June 2018, 0:24

    I suppose all female employees at Mercedes earn the same amount as Lewis Hamilton then?

    That explains where Mercedes bigger budgets are going.

    Sorry, can’t take Lewis seriously on this. Not saying anything about the gender pay gap topic (because that’s politics, not F1), just on Lewis talking about it.

    Purely trying to build a status and reputation. and the whole black v white thing. Now that’s just silly! (Fyi I am not white.) If it was factual, how come he earns more than his white competitors?

    1. Because hes the all great ofc.

    2. @chrismichaelaoun
      Your sentence “I suppose all female employees at Mercedes earn the same amount as Lewis Hamilton then?” proves that you are missing the point completely. Lewis mentions equal pay but also for equal work. He compares S. Williams and M. Sharapova, top tennis players. Using your argument, do you believe that the female janitor who cleans the offices of Dr. Z should get the same amount of money as Lewis Hamilton? Do you believe that the woman who stands behind him during the post-race interviews should get equal pay as Hamilton?
      On the other hand, the female janitor should get the same amount of money as the male janitor, given (and that is important) they both have the same experience and are doing the same work. A male janitor who has been with the company for 10 years would probably have a higher salary than a female counterpart (and vice-versa).
      Hamilton is not talking about earnings won on the tennis court. Williams has made much more money than Sharapova, if only tennis earnings are taken into account. She is a more talented player, and the results prove that. More Grand Slam titles, more tournament wins = more money. What Hamilton probably wants to highlight is that Sharapova has made a lot more money on endorsements because sponsors find her more marketable. The Williams sisters have been deemed controversial by many. The late great Muhammad Ali did not attract many sponsors either because he was considered controversial. I remember only two commercials from him: one for Vitalis and one for Gino’s.
      Hamilton gets paid more because he is a rarity in the world of F1. He is not white, and he wins. Tiger Woods got more money in golf for the same reasons.
      Countless studies have shown that female CEO’s get paid less than male counterparts (and that women get less money than men for the same work).
      Same money for same work (given that experience, knowledge are equal). That is what is at issue here (not the female division chief making as much as the male CEO)

      1. chris97 (@chrismichaelaoun)
        8th June 2018, 13:10

        Sorry, I should have been more clear, the first part was more sarcasm than anything, of course, the likes of a regular worker won’t get paid the same amount than Hamilton, that was more of a dig at the whole “pay gap” argument with humour.

        But I agree with most of what you say, good to know you know your tennis too, Williams has earned more, though Maria was more marketable and Williams had injuries which led to less money earned.

        However, Hamilton doesn’t talk about that, he being an authority figure has just appeared to come out saying Williams earned less off earnings and implied it was because she is black, which then I say to that well take a pay cut to even your pay with whites if that’s how you feel. When you have a lot of power and status, you can cause a lot of damage spreading information that isn’t exactly what it is. Or maybe sporting stars (and celebrities) just shouldn’t talk about politics and human matters in the public eye to the masses. Silly of him in my opinion. He can have his views, he can talk about them if he wants, but as they ssay, great power comes great responsibility. Make sure you back yourself rather than briefly talk about an important topic. it literally states he thinks she earns less earnings because shes black. You may be able to read between the lines, I may be able to, but maybe the masses arent able to, so hush and just race cars mate! Unless racefans reported it incorrectly, then void my whole debate.

        And comparing jobs on wages vs sports stars / celebrities or any other role that has a lot more than just skill and hours involved (eg, ROI, marketability, status, capital investment) that are based on a lot more than an hourly wage simply cant be done. I know my sarcasm tried to compare that, but that was trying to be sarcastic to show it literally cant be, because some people like to. Like, the CEO comment. You can’t compare 1 CEO to another unless you have actual proof that each CEO does the exact same work, exact same shares, investments, marketability etc. Its just a different world to a wage. Maybe one who never worked yet has more shares that earns them more than what the one that works hard but has less shares might be the case, and so be it, that’s the whole point of investing capital. Might not be, and that woman CEO might genuinely be getting ripped off. BUT, for the record, while the study you mention may be true, just because there’s a “study”, doesn’t make it 100% set in stone truth. It could have been incorrect, botched, and if you want to be the one that defends studies that suit your opinion, well I could throw studies showing otherwise, but maybe they are all lies?
        But, If we are talking about wages, 100%, women should be paid identical to men for the exact same experience, same role, same time in position etc. But in sport, Hamilton making such comments is just plain silly. He is much more marketable than say Palmer, and so be it, he has the backing, history, skill, looks, style to go with it, good for him, marketing is a subjective matter, not a human right. That’s why I think his comments are a joke, because he’s painted it under the pay gap issue, which has nothing to do with sports stars, or if it does, it shouldn’t be.

        I think we agree on most but have different views on where the lines are drawn. Sorry for the unclear sarcasm ;)

  7. I think Lewis brought up some good points, though in fairness what AJ brought up about their discrepancy between female sports and male sports is also a factor. When considering athletes, particularly since most of their revenue comes from popularity, it can be argued that women athletes will always be paid more than name athletes. That would make it a sad, but true, multifaceted problem in terms of achieving equality in the long run (ie. how to make women’s sports more popular, or how to get them involved in ones that have been traditionally viewed as men’s – such as F1 etc.). However, one point that Lewis mentioned was her pay gap to Maria, if true I find that sad and surprising. Is it the endorsements? You can’t possibility try and make the claim that she’s “more marketable” as that simply illustrates the inherent bias in that claim. Regardless, I think the points brought up in this article are worth more than simply dismissing them as hearsay; when you hear things enough times, you should start to consider where the truth lies.

    1. The men are much better at all those sports. Far better.
      Thats why they create much more revenue.

      With hamiltons thinking people should also pay kids much more because they can be the best in their division. And people should als pay disabled athletes as much as male top athletes because they might be the best in their disabled division.

      But this doesnt happen because people want to see the best of the best, and pay for that.

      Not the best of the not-best.

  8. Gender pay gap has been refuted with facts time and time again, so its a non issue. But easy for a millionaire to spout about to gain a few more social media followers…

    1. Good one

    2. no, I agree, and all it takes is to Google one article that lays out those facts on why the pay gap argument is so flawed. It’s not really hard to understand.

  9. I’ve seen Hamilton complaining before there arent enough black drivers in F1 – I have NEVER seen him complaining there arent enough white people in NBA! lol

  10. I did a quick check. Career prize money Sharapova: $37 million
    Career prize money S. Williams: $84 million
    Sharapova is possibly more marketable, and she is probably more driven in her entrepreneurial endeavors, but in terms of money made actually playing tennis, Williams is, as usual, kicking Sharapova’s butt.

  11. John Toad (@)
    8th June 2018, 1:29

    Lewis makes the same mistake as a lot of others do in conflating equal opportunity with equal outcome.

  12. Why bring race into it?

    **face palm**

    1. +1 to that, @jaymenon10

      Seeing Forbes’ list of top 100 paid athletes, I really don’t see race/ethnicity as a factor, as a quick scroll through the list of names & photos will attest to. Gender – yes, that list is a sausage fest.

      Off-topic, but it is staggering that #1 (Floyd Mayweather, boxer) gets more than #2 and #3 combined (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, football). I never knew boxing was this big!

      1. Mayweather is only top as a result of one single fight against Conor McGregor (who ended up #5 as a result). In the top 10 there are 2 fighters, 3 footballers, 2 basketball players, 2 US football players and Roger Federer. Hardly surprising that women don’t appear in the top 10 as, other than tennis, there are very few female boxers, footballers or basketball players and they are the ones pulling in the big moolah.

  13. And yet he wants his race car adorned by scantily clad women while it waits for him to arrive on the grid.

  14. Surprised to see only one cricketer at rank 83. I thought with the advent of IPL and other 20-20 leagues, there would have been more.

    1. I don’t think they are paid in dollars, they are earning in rupees. The exchange rates vary. Anyways purchasing power of rupee is greater than that of dollar. So person in India can buy more in 67 rupees than a person in US in 1 dollar which is the current exchange rate.

      1. @illusive – nice point about purchasing power, it reminds me of the Economist’s Big Mac Index. Now I’m hungry, so please excuse me.

    2. @sumedh
      I have another theory to answer that.
      This is a top 100 list. Expand the list to (say) 250 or 300 and you’ll have umpteen number of cricketers.
      The “problem” with cricket is, there are too many starts at the very top earning millions unlike most other sports which are perhaps dominated by 4-5 players.
      It is difficult and almost moot to make comparisons between the people in the list. What they earn depends on what they bring in terms of revenue. And then there is this ‘reach’ factor which is why you have a good no of football players. Then you have ‘premium sports’ like Golf. McIlroy earns 34 times more than Alonso in endorsements. I can barely relate Rory’s reach to that of Alonso let alone players from Football or cricket. Then we the sports themselves. The number of games (or appearances) LeBron/Curry or Messi/Bale play in a year pales in comparison to others. The lowest avg ticket price (team wise) of an NBA game in 2015/16 was $30. If converted to INR, it is the price of a test match season ticket (5 days) in of the better stands at any famous ground in India. And beyond all this, you have the problem of currency conversion as @illusive mentioned. It is no surprise that the list mostly consists of players from leagues in the USA.

      On a side note, excluding individual-based sports, i think most of their earnings come from playing for their franchise/club (+corresponding endorsements) and not their country. Franchise/club cricket is barely 10 years old.

  15. The real disparity is in the more mundane world of all of us little people out here working for a living just trying to survive. The world where every day it is the time worn norm for men to get paid more than women for the same work. Where minorities get paid less than non-minorities. Personally, I don’t have an issue with Hamilton speaking out about the stone age mentality of the pay gap. Better than just sitting back, clicking his heels, glad to be the exception to the rule and don’t rock the boat.

    1. Indeed @bullmello. He is right that the paygaps are real in our societies, and the list shows a stark example of it in sports.

    2. This is not true.
      Its debunked so many times.
      I all westerns countries its illegal to pay people different for the same job. Almost al companies have standard salary brackets everyone falls into.
      Go to walmart or ford or mcdonalds or nike or police force or military or government jobs or in education etc and you will see it.
      All standardized salary brackets.

  16. I’m surprised to see how many people here are citing “marketability” and “what people want” as reasons to justify the difference in sponsorship earnings when it is precisely those “what people want” that Hamilton is critiquing.

  17. Hamilton placed 12th on the list, which was published by Forbes. The only other F1 drivers featured are Sebastian Vettel in 18th and Fernando Alonso in 39th.

    Wait, so F1 drivers are the paupers of the sporting world?

  18. Well in that case I wonder why Hamilton’s contract negotiations lasted so long. If he is so concerned about the gender gap, he just could have copied the contract of highest paid Mecedes F1 team female employee.

  19. Jeez. He still plays that “Stewards punished me because I”m black” card from 2011.

    1. Yep, how much less does he get paid for being nonwhite?

  20. F1 should hire more women. If there aren’t any openings in the existing job structure, let them pass their time holding driver number boards on the grid, I’m sure they’d enjoy that sort of access while being paid decent money.

    Oh, wait….

  21. FlatSix (@)
    8th June 2018, 7:21

    Serena is in the top three of the greatest athletes of all time above a lot of, if not all, the people on that list, so it is a big, big question why

    I’m sorry to be very brute here but despite how talented and gifted she is, that’s not true. As far as female tennis players go she’s the absolute undisputed best, for sure, but I believe it was McEnroe who claimed she wouldn’t stand a chance against a top 700 rated male. Now I think that’s perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but I do think it’s true for let’s say the top 5, which is already enough to debunk Hamilton his claim, and that’s only tennis taken into account. That doesn’t mean I respect Serena any less, I love watching her play. I’m also fairly sure she has nothing to complain about financial wise. Financially, again it’s the simple trick of the value you generate and the percentage you manage to take home.

    Google the interview Ronda Rousey gave on her wage compared to male boxers, it’s not all that hard to understand.

      1. It was an attempt at being polite. I don’t think it’s that untrue either, maybe on a good day she’d be able to beat a top 200.

    1. @flatsix See what Ralph posted. Serena and her sister got crushed by a low ranked male who wasn’t even trying hard.

      The female world champions soccer team from Sweden played a friendly match against a junior boys team in Australia … and lost. 15 year old boys beat the female world champions 7-0.

      Still, it’s not entirely fair, since apparently people do pay to watch these women play. So even though they aren’t very good at it their sport still generates income. They should get a fair share of that revenue I guess.

      Still, I would hope the “actual” athletes make more money and they seem to do.

  22. This is a bit ridiculous to be honest. Inequality will always be there if you look hard enough for it, but that doesn’t mean it’s done for the wrong reasons.

    Take Ronda Rousey, at the peak of her career, I’m sure she was raking in a lot of money, even compared to a lot of the other UFC athletes.

    Equality in sport is never really going to be there because there will always be peaks and troughs, there will be marketability to consider and more factors I’m probably not even aware of.

    This seems like shouting for equality for the sake of trying to sound like he’s standing for something.

  23. Lewis Hamilton says the earnings inequality women and non-white sportspeople face reflects a culture which is “still in the stone age”.

    Typical low IQ poorly researched comment from Lewis.
    Perhaps he should go look at the Forbes highest earning athletes lists and see if he can back up his racist claims with some facts.

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      8th June 2018, 14:57

      It’s almost like sports players are paid based on their success.

  24. Sorry Hammy but in tennis the women play fewer sets than men and get the same prize money. Aren’t you going to cry for equality now?

  25. Lewis should move to my country, here whites are excluded on everything for bieng white

  26. Lewis, you are one hell of a driver. You are surely in the top 15 drivers that have ever raced in F1. And you alongside Seb have been the most successful drivers in the last decade by a large margin. But please don’t bring race and politics into this. You are earning tens of millions every year. If you are so concerned with the well being of the women and non white people in motorsport, why don’t you share a sum out of your payment?

    1. Replying to my comment. I am sure that Serena is earning a lot of money. I think I saw in an article she is earning 80$ million or something. The majority of the population is just dreaming about this sum of money so I am sure she can afford earning even 40$ million a year.

  27. I am amused at the some of the seemingly wilful ignorance of some of the commentators on here. There is still a long way to go in terms of discrimination- be it due to one’s race or their sex. Recently- here in Britain- there was a scandal at the BBC regarding this gender pay gap.

    I agree with some opposite views on here about other sports like NBA where equality is the opposite- ethnic minorities being the better paid than players of white ethnicity. But I feel that is a bit of a red herring as well because talentwise- certain sports have been dominated by ethnic minorities. I am not sure the same is true for F1 though because historically drivers from ethnic minority backgrounds have not had the opportunities to prove their worth bar Hamilton, Chandhok and Karthikeyan.

    Why people get twitchy just because Hamilton brings up some valid points regarding these inequality issues is suspect.

    1. about other sports like NBA where equality is the opposite- ethnic minorities being the better paid than players of white ethnicity

      Opposite equality? What’s that?

      See, it just happens to be these ‘minorities’ you say are better NBA players, and if I was a team owner I highly value getting the best players, so there’s nothing wrong with it. In sport you get paid what you’re worth, end of story. That’s not discrimination.

      1. Opposite equality? What’s that?

        I don’t see what’s so difficult to understand about that since you go on to answer your own question which I think we are in agreement about (re

        it just happens to be these ‘minorities’ you say are better NBA players, and if I was a team owner I highly value getting the best players, so there’s nothing wrong with it

        )

        In sport you get paid what you’re worth, end of story. That’s not discrimination.

        That in itself is not discrimination- but if only the sports entertainment business was that perfect. Pay disparities do exist whether you wish to selectively ignore them or not. That’s my fundamental point.

    2. “drivers from ethnic minority backgrounds have not had the opportunities to prove their worth bar Hamilton, Chandhok and Karthikeyan”
      – WHAT? Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan HAVE NO ethnic minority backgrounds!!! They are Indians who come from India – one of the largest and economically most powerful countries in the world. A country also known for brilliant chess players. Both born to wealthy, privileged families.

  28. Race and gender equality is to the left what global warming is to the right; something that they cannot be sane about and where facts get ignored in favor of feelings.

    1. @aapje How is global warming something the right winged people won’t acknowledge? Just because one guy in a white house doesn’t buy it doesn’t mean none do? I’ve met people on the left who very much agree with quite right winged POVs on gender and the pay gap too.

      1. @flatsix

        I admit that I was generalizing.

  29. I don’t doubt there is inequality, the question is whether women should be paid more or if men should be paid less. Who deserves what could be somewhat relative. Thanks to the Panama Papers leak some time ago, I was able to realize that by registering his private jet on the Isle of Man (instead of England) Lewis Hamilton saved on an excise tax about twice as much as I ever made in 30 years of going to work every day…

  30. I completely agree with Lewis. It is appalling that Serena only has a net worth of $27m while more than 50% of her compatriots have less than $1000 to their name.
    Shall we pass the hat around for her, chaps?

  31. The only way to properly compare EQUALITY here would be to compare similar endorsement deals. Roger Federer (7th on the Forbes list) made most of his money from endorsements (65M). In order to avoid being baseless, we need to know what those deals are, and then compare them to Serena’s. If they get vastly different amounts for similar deals – then what Lewis is saying is true. Otherwise, it just shows that Serena is not as marketable as Federer. And by the way, that amount – 65M – is the biggest on the list among ALL athletes, doesn’t matter if they are male, female, black or white. Federer just has the best manager it seems.

    Race inequality is also questionable in this particular sense, since LeBron (6th on the list) made 52M from endorsement deals – second largest amount after Federer. So it looks like the opportunities for grand-paying endorsements is there for athletes of all colors.

    Thus it seems that the only argument here is that there are fewer opportunities specifically for black female athletes (Sharapova was mentioned as making more than Serena) to get better endorsement deals. Unfortunately, I fail to see this as an equality issue. If marketers can’t sell your image to buying audience, that’s just that – market demand. Even if we single out white male athletes, there is always going be inequality among them in this regard – different people have different marketability. Unless Lewis wants to see a mandatory set amount of deals with a preset amount of money per every single athlete, I don’t see how this can change. Companies want to reach a specific audience the best way they can, and they sign the best person to do so.

  32. Paul Strawbridge
    8th June 2018, 12:11

    Its funny he mentions serena williams, as tennis is the only sport i can think of where the women get paid more than the men!

  33. I’ve heard Lewis complain last year in an interview that he had it tough as a child because he didn’t have money to buy cool carts like the rich kids did.
    One time my parents din’t have enough money to buy food so for a few days i had nothing to eat (I was 6 and i swear it’s true). Not to mention all the kids that have cancer and such.
    Somehow he always manages to whine about something .

  34. Michael Brown (@)
    8th June 2018, 14:53

    I don’t see why Hamilton can’t just change his gender to female and become the first female F1 world champion.

  35. “Women rule the world and I don’t understand. It just shows you we are still in the stone age and that needs to change”
    Note to Toto: keep Lewis off the ice pipe on Thursday media day!!

    The answer is simple – its Supply and Demand. This excludes normal day to day jobs, as this wasn’t what the report was, but what athletes earn how much.

    Sportspeople get paid on how good they are and how many people watch their chosen sport. I don’t get into NBA, its very tall people throwing a ball around and they can dunk without jumping- but obviously many people think otherwise and these guys earn an obscene amount of money. They have no risk compared to an F1 driver but on average they get paid more – market demand pays them big money.

    For his Serena Williams comments that’s interesting, she gets paid the same money to do 3 sets of tennis when the guys needs to do 5- but if you mention that you would be seen sexist. It would appear people find men’s tennis more entertaining, therefore more viewing, therefore more money- Supply & Demand.

  36. Firstly, Sharapova makes or made more money from sponsors. That kind of income isn’t really comparable to normal wages.

    Secondly, Williams was the only woman in the list last year. She probably would have appeared again this year, but she spent almost all of 2017 having a baby. Although I believe she still made a fortune in sponsorship.

    Thirdly, if there is a debate to be had about women’s earnings in sport, the top 100 list is broadly irrelevant to it.

  37. First of all, to completely reject Hamilton’s comments is to deny that there is any discrimination with regard to gender and race. That’s not true. It is true that there are opposing opinions and arguments that a rational person can make regarding how much revenue can be generated by women’s sports versus men’s sports.

    Keith and Dieter are perfectly correct to cover these statements by the current WDC. It’s news, and it is F1 news. It is not click bait. Keith and Dieter report the news, and it is not their responsibility to write an article “correcting” a statement made by an F1 figure that speaks to a very broad socio-economic issue that greatly transcends F1.

    My personal opinion is that if you think so little of the quality of reporting at this website, you are perfectly free to seek better reporting elsewhere. I doubt that you will find it. Keith and Dieter do a refreshingly good job of covering F1 without all of the blather I read elsewhere. The “blather” I’m seeing today is in the comments section,and that’s very unusual because the comments here are also usually a cut above what I read elsewhere. Let Lewis state his opinion because it is obviously something that is important to him. Listen to him and think about what he has to say, but don’t get your knickers all in a twist, and don’t blame Keith and Dieter for simply reporting the news.

  38. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    9th June 2018, 9:50

    Supply and demand governs who earns the most, the cornerstone of business, commerce and a capitalist society. The best get paid the most, if the best happen to be men then blame evolution for being sexist. This idea of a liberal, socialist sporting utopia where everyone is paid the same is ludicrous.

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