Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Hamilton reveals The Hamilton Commission to promote diversity in motorsport

2020 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton is forming a new commission to use motorsport to engage young black people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The six-times world champion, who has often spoken of his desire to improve diversity in motorsport, revealed details of his plans in a column for The Sunday Times.

“I have been working with the Royal Academy of Engineering to create The Hamilton Commission, a research partnership dedicated to exploring how motorsport can be used as a vehicle to engage more young people from black backgrounds with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and, ultimately, employ them on our teams or in other engineering sectors,” said Hamilton.

“It will explore areas including lack of role models and career services at schools, opportunities to engage more black youth with STEM extracurriculars, barriers that prevent people from more diverse backgrounds joining the racing industry, and problematic hiring practices that result in fewer black graduates entering engineering professions.”

Hamilton said a goal of the commission is to help motorsport become a more diverse environment.

“I hope that The Hamilton Commission enables real, tangible and measurable change. When I look back in 20 years, I want to see the sport that gave a shy, working-class black kid from Stevenage so much opportunity, become as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in.”

He said the commission will work within black communities and wants feedback from those who have faced barriers which have hindered their efforts to participate in motorsport.

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Keith Collantine
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117 comments on “Hamilton reveals The Hamilton Commission to promote diversity in motorsport”

  1. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words. Well done to LH for putting his money where his mouth is. This is impressive.

    1. @amam I completely agree. I particularity appreciate that it isn’t focused on a narrow “let’s find the next Lewis Hamilton”-type goal, but the broader aim of tackling the type of skills shortages and educational gaps that cause inequality. He’s been talking about the lack of diversity in F1 for years – long before the events of past weeks – and many people, myself included, have been wondering how he would use his considerable wealth and influence to address the problem. Now we have the answer and I think it’s a smart, well-judged one.

      1. Yes, this seems to be the perfect answer to all people who said “let him put his money where his mouth is” in recent months.

        Good to see Hamilton take this step, do achieve something motorsport badly needs.

  2. But isn’t this ‘buying equality’? Equality is a mindset, I’m not sure if this is the way.

    1. A lot of inequality is due to disparity in wealth between different groups. So much inequality is bought too.

      How else will this particular problem be solved other than someone choosing to chuck some money at it?

    2. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      20th June 2020, 21:38

      Equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome are two different things. You can’t buy the latter, the best is the best no matter what. But you can do is help to ensure the first – that anyone with talent has the chance to prove themselves, no matter who or where they come from.

    3. Equality is not a mindset. And no it’s not buying anything.

      He does nothing, he gets criticised. He does something positive and still he gets criticised.

      1. Some people are like this. We can never win them over. Lewis here is doing more than enough for the cause, yet still he is criticized.

        1. True. But let’s remember there is a systemic problem here, so of course there are going to be critics. The more great work the likes of LH does, the more will be diminished the systemic problem and the fewer and fewer the already minority of people who are the problem, the obstacle, will get in the way. This will take some time and will not happen overnight. So yes while there are critics, let’s be aware that overall they are the minority and not nearly in equal numbers to those with open minds.

          When I saw the words ‘buying equality’ I could only think of the buying of slaves that started this whole tragic saga 400 years ago, at least here in North America anyway.

  3. A positive development. Once Hamilton retires from driving, this could be a commitment alongside his fashion and music.

  4. While Lewis virtue signals this guy does this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsKNXrD8aIY

    1. – Hey JMDan, that’s stupid.

      – I know. I wanted to do a thread with myself but I forgot how limited this site’s comment section is.

    2. F1oSaurus (@)
      20th June 2020, 22:56

      @danmar Lol thay guy would probably be almost as successful as Ferrari and it’s drivers were in 2019 at not winning races.

  5. Good luck to you Lewis.

  6. Positive discrimination is still discrimination. By taking a certain group and lifting it from down bellow others to up above the others one still keeps them separate. The point is we’re all equal. Instead of “black lives matter” the goal should be “ALL lives matter”.
    Hamilton remains the dumbest of all on F1 grid. I have the feeling he’s doing this just because it’s popular and I’m sure he didn’t have any real issues while advancing from kart to F1 because of his race (which is, by the way, mixed).

    He’s bringing the race issue where it really isn’t an issue. Pure dumbass!

    1. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      20th June 2020, 22:19

      Who says they need elevating above others? We could take a certain disadvantaged group, and lift them from down below others, to level with others. Is anyone saying black drivers need complete fewer laps to win? Or to drive faster cars than others? Or to score lower exam scores than thier peers to pass?

      1. Lifting someone above others is NOT leveling.
        Positive actions are indeed a very dangerous policy to implement, in the US they oftentimes meant admitting more students of color in a college class, at the expenses of more deserving white people.
        This is the sole point @sermilan is actually right about.
        The rest of his comment is pure h@te.

    2. I really couldn’t agree more. Hamilton always finds the one things which brings him more followers to instagram/facebook.

    3. The point is we’re all equal. Instead of “black lives matter” the goal should be “ALL lives matter”.

      That is the goal. The idea is that generally society already puts more value on white lives, so they want to emphasise that black lives are also of value.

      I honestly don’t understand how people are failing to get this after so long, and can only assume it is misunderstood wilfully.

      1. @matt90 it really does have to be wilfully. As you say.

        He’s literally explained in his own statement that the goal is to push a project to “remove barriers”. Not give advatages. Any “advantage” given through this so-called positive discrimination would be temporary and only to overcome the existing advantages that we have.

        But I guess a lot of us still aren’t comfortable accepting that we have these advantages. I’m ashamed to admit that it took me a while to accept mine.

        1. @gongtong it does certainly seem to be the case that those often using the “all lives matter” term often seem to use that as a justification to then say “so we don’t need programmes to help others” – falsely arguing that they want equality when their actions are to counteract the very sorts of programmes that might help bring about that sort of equality in the first place.

    4. William Jones
      20th June 2020, 23:59

      which is, by the way, mixed

      Technically he’s Black-British, which includes his particular flavour of mixed. He shouldn’t be ticking the Mixed-Other category, which is the only category which includes the word ‘mixed, and he shouldn’t specifically because his mother is British. If she were, say, Chinese, then he would be Mixed, Other. But she’s not, so he’s Black, British.

    5. i have the feeling he’s doing this just because it’s popular and I’m sure he didn’t have any real issues while advancing from kart to F1 because of his race (which is, by the way, mixed).

      This is a dumbass things to say.

      You are, rather ignorantly, trying to imply that Hamilton is simply getting on the BLM bandwagon & is now only voicing his concerns regarding diversity, simply because race relations is the current hot topic.

      Campaigning for diversity isn’t something that Hamilton has only now just picked up. It’s something that Hamilton has been vocal about for many years. why don’t you do a simple search & educate yourself on this. For example,.here’s one from 2yrs ago:

      https://www.racefans.net/2018/03/28/hamilton-f1-diversity/

      And I’m sure he didn’t have any real issues while advancing from kart to F1 because of his race

      And you know this how? Again, there are many articles/interviews from way back when…over 10yrs ago where Hamilton & indeed his father, explains some of the racial abuse they endured in karting & beyond.

      Try reading up & being more informative.

      1. And you know this how? Again, there are many articles/interviews from way back when…over 10yrs ago where Hamilton & indeed his father, explains some of the racial abuse they endured in karting & beyond.

        I raced from ages 13-20 and i would often get called things in and around the paddock, some people were doing it to be horrible and some to get in our heads. I wasn’t the only one either

    6. Because of comments and ideologies like yours is the reason we have this mess today.

      The fact he has and probably still experiences racism in a highly rich and white dominated sport is extremely sad and with all his success he still is the only black driver in the sport.

      Lewis was extremely fortunate to get an opportunity but there are obviously still barriers in the way preventing other black driver’s and/or other professionals from breaking into the sport/Industry.

      I wish this wasn’t necessary and it is also clear that other non-black members of the industry either don’t care or fully understand the atrocities against BAME individuals.

      Its simple, treat everyone equally and the “all lives matter” statement can be realised. I for one don’t require the help just expect to be treated and respected as anyone would.

    7. hamilton is very disconnected. i am a brown american. there are so many self imposed issues in these communities that offering people excuses and blaming it on “racism” is the most racist thing one can do.

    8. The point is we’re all equal.

      I think everyone is missing the point. We are NOT all equal and no matter how hard we strive for it, it is an impossible and stupid target to try and achieve. The fact is we are all unique. We are all different – and this should be celebrated. (Please bear with me on this, I do have a point).

      I am quite mathematically minded and generally pick up new maths quite quickly and have good long term memory and recalling events, but awful short term memory. My wife however has far more common sense than me and is much better at remembering our short term future plans – honestly it is like she has our calendar imprinted on her brain! The reason we work well together is because we compliment each other and help each other with our weaker areas. Alas, the times we struggle and argue are the times we forget to/can’t see things from the other person’s perspective.

      We should be celebrating our differences – not trying to make everyone conform and be ‘equal’. It is our differences that make the world such a beautiful and diverse place – which if we didn’t have we wouldn’t have a society that works the way it does. I am an engineer and love my job, though I sit at a computer most of the day. My wife would hate to be stuck at a computer everyday – hence she enjoys her job of being a nursery nurse. If everyone were equal to me we would have a world of only engineers. This wouldn’t work as there would be noone to look after, raise or teach the children, so they would not know how to be engineers? Thus they would not become engineers and thus not equal – EQUALITY IS UNACHIEVABLE!

      The point is – what we should actually be striving for is FAIRNESS. In the UK there is a majority of ‘white’ people – so naturally you would expect a majority of ‘good/well paying’ jobs to be white people. Equality says there should be as many black, blue, brown, yellow, pink, and green people in these jobs as white people. Why? A job should be given to the person (thought to be) most able to fit that job description. The colour of their skin, gender, appearance, etc. should not matter to this choice – regardless if the previous 1000 people you employ are ‘white’. The fact that (currently) there are more ‘white’ people in the UK means you would expect more white people to be getting the jobs.

      The problem in the world is that this is not always happening. ‘Black’ people (generally) are not being treated fairly or given a fair chance to be in the position of being picked for that job based fairly on merit. This is what the ‘Black lives matter’ movement is asking for. They are not saying ONLY black lives matter. They are asking for black lives to be given a fair chance (well, that is what I would hope they are asking for). So to the people saying: “it should be ALL lives matter” – yes they do, but that is not what this is about; it is about the fact that in the world as it is today ‘black’ people aren’t getting the same treatment/fair amount of opportunities as others due to their skin colour.

      I think Hamilton will have a hard time* fairly** increasing the diversity within F1 and motorsport as it stands as most of F1 is based in the UK which has a majority ‘white’ demographic so easier to employ from the majoritively ‘white’ local population. For F1 to become more diverse perhaps teams should have a variety of global locations other than just the UK (and Italy)?

      *Not to say it isn’t good to or worth trying, because it is!
      **as in not promoting a ‘black’ person over a better qualified ‘white’ person just because there are ‘too many’ ‘white’ people already as this is discriminatory and racist in its own right.

      1. I agree with your post. When I said “we’re all equal” I meant racewise only.

        I have the feeling that disregarding the race difference, which is only color of the skin and nothing else, would help more than, again, separating a certain group by a label that shouldn’t really exist. I really think he’s doing more harm than help.
        The situation in USA escalated way out of any sense and the last thing it needs is putting more fuel into the fire.

        Lewis made his way through all racing classes to F1 legends solely by his talent and his work. He was noticed and supported from early days and I’m sure no one looked at him as a “black kid”, but rather as a “huge potential”, giving no ratt’s ass to even if he was purple.

        His father Anthony though, is a much smarter man, often telling him to “do his talking on the track” and he should’ve had listened more. Stepping out to blame the F1 community for not reacting enough on what was going on in USA is so wrong. F1 community in 2020 is everything but racist, proven on his on example. He enjoys all the fruits of his exceptional career and shouldn’t really be spitting at F1 people.

        1. @sermilan, my apologise for misinterpreting your comment! I see your point and think I agree in so much as in a perfect world we wouldn’t have ‘xxxx’ lives matter in any sense as everyone (adhering to the socially agreed etiquette of the culture (laws)) was just accepted. However, we are in a place where we need to raise awareness as it is an issue until it becomes a non-issue. The problem is – as you say (if I have interpreted you correctly) – as long as people make an issue of it (i.e. raise awareness for it) it is not going to be a non-issue, so it is a lose-lose situation.

          As for Hamilton calling people out, I think what he did was give people and companies the freedom/encouragement to speak out which is good. However, I agree, there may have been a better way to do it – not that I know what that is… Maybe he should have highlighted that it was O.K. to voice your opinion/concerns if you want/feel comfortable doing that (and not saying anything doesn’t mean you don’t support/agree with the cause), not what could be considered bullying them into it.

          Also agreed, he does show that you can be a minority and still get into F1, but he still got racially abused while doing it, which needs to be eradicated. And like I said, while F1’s ‘home’ is in a predominantly ‘white’ country he will have a hard time fairly changing the ratio. What you have to consider is that he has a huge platform from which he can help good change and I respect that he is trying to do that. Is he doing it the right way? Possibly not. Should he be using F1 in a political way? I’d argue – like you – probably not, but I like and respect that he is trying to do his best to do what he thinks is right.

    9. @sermilan
      Probably by accident, you had the point on positive discrimination.
      Other than that, your comment is pure h@te.
      Sorry for you mate, you must have gone through a very, very harsh lustrum.

  7. It may surpise Mr Hamilton but “…on average boys consistently underperform against girls, and white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds underperform against boys of all other races and ethnicities. I will reel off some statistics: by age five, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds are already 13% behind disadvantaged black boys and 23% behind disadvantaged Asian girls in their phonics, for example; only around a third of white working-class boys pass their maths and English GCSEs; disadvantaged white working-class boys are 40% less likely to go into higher education than disadvantaged black boys; and in fact, according to UCAS, only 9% of these boys will go to university, compared with around half of the general population. I could go on forever if I had more time, but as it stands these white working-class boys are being let down by an in-built and inherent disadvantage” – source, Hansard column 312WH, 12 February 2020. volume 671.

    1. And pray tell @gnosticbrian, what are you and the quoted politician doing for this historic, ingrained, disadvantaged class.

      1. Drawing attention to the facts; it may cause bystanders to ho hum and carp but that doesn’t upset me.

        1. Fair ‘nough.

    2. William Jones
      20th June 2020, 23:32

      No one person can help everyone, it’s just a fact of life that charities and initiatives that exist to help kids into education simply can’t accept every applicant. They all have a procedure to go through to limit who can benefit from them.

      It’s also only natural for someone to want to help people face difficulties they themselves have faced. You see, I imagine Lewis knows exactly what problems black kids face, and has a pretty good idea what the answer to those problems are. I doubt very much he knows what sort of problems white kids face, so would not be the ideal candidate to try to find solutions. Maybe you should be – if you’re not prepared to put your own money where your mouth is – criticising all the white celebrities from impoverished backgrounds who are not launching initiatives to help kids from under privileged backgrounds.

      What you’re essentially doing is telling someone who thinks they have the answer to one problem, to try to answer all problems instead, and that kind of design by committee is rightly mocked for being stupid, and politically correct for the sake of political correctness.

      1. “No one person can help everyone, it’s just a fact of life…” – true, in which event, ought not help to be directed first to where is is most needed?

        1. William Jones
          21st June 2020, 1:26

          That only works if every person who exists has the ability and capability to address the literal worst problem on Earth. If we can all agree what it actually is.

          How about instead we each agree to address the worst problem that we each have the ability to address, and we leave deciding what the worst problem is, among the problems that we are able to tackle, to the individual tackling them?

          1. Not so. We are not discussing ‘the literal worst problem on Earth’ – we are discussing those whom the education system fails most. And, in the UK, that is working class white boys. And it is not a small number of children that are affected. Are you saying that white children and black children have different educational needs to fit them for success in 21st century Britain? If so please adduce the evidence. If children of different backgrounds have the same or similar needs [a good grounding in STEM for example], then your argument collapses.

          2. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 3:03

            I’m saying that black kids and white kids face different challenges in an education environment, yes.

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          3. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 3:25

            Your turn now, can you find even one peer reviewed study that has not been debunked that concludes that children from different backgrounds do not face different challenges depending on their background? That Prince William faced the same challenges that a Somalian refugee faces in the UK education system.

            I’ll wait.

          4. William Jones – I stopped reading after the ad hominem attack; resorting to such shows that you are bereft of cogent argument but replete in bullying.

            I remain of the view that young people require the education system to give them a similar skill set to succeed in 21st century UK. Sowing division at an early age reaps a terrible harvest in later life. We need to bring children together not drive them apart! And a plethora of papers from ‘research’ conducted in the last century does nothing to change my view.

          5. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 13:35

            Nothing to do with the overwhelming evidence that you are wrong then? Sure thing, we all believe that your feelings were just _that_ hurt at being called a lazy git, that you just melted and can’t possibly respond.

          6. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 14:07

            And don’t think I didn’t notice the straw man you constructed. No-one is arguing that different children should be given different tool sets, (though they should, I don’t see much point in a future doctor learning the skill sets that a future astronomer needs).

            What’s being argued is that in giving children whatever skills they are going to be given in education, different children face different difficulties in acquiring those skills. Someone who understands the difficulties black kids face may not understand the difficulties poor white kids face. If you disagree, come armed with sources, as up to date as you like.

          7. William Jones – Yes I have a source for Hamiliton’s documented Vat avoidence: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41886607

            I also have a source for Hamilton’s tax ‘exile’: https://www.ft.com/content/8a3ebde2-c64b-11e7-b30e-a7c1c7c13aab

            What did you say about ‘do your own research’? “Do as William Jones says, not as William Jones does”.

            Not a straw man. A genuine issue and you know it.

            There is NO overwhelming evidence that I am wrong. The article is about STEM subjects. I can only speak from my own experience.

            I obtained first class degrees in Mathematics and Physics and a PhD in Theoretical Physics more than 50 years ago from a top Russell Group University. We were a very disparate group of students – from all walks of life and many different countries. We all attended the same lectures / seminars / tutorials and were given the same study material; we sat the same exams.

            The Laws of Physics and the rules of Mathematics are ‘colour blind’ – they are the same for black and white kids on Earth and for aliens in far away galaxies [and they also take no account of sex]. Canonically conjugate variables have a non-zero commutator irrespective of the identity and location of the observer.

            Kindly tell me why, for example, the two times table presents unusual difficulties for black children. I think it better that we educate our children together; that we foster a common learning and not go down your educational apartheid route. If you disagree – that is no skin off my nose.

            Do you deny, as a question of fact, that young white working class boys are the most educationally disadvantaged in the UK?

          8. William Jones
            22nd June 2020, 9:27

            I gave you peer reviewed studies, you gave me newspaper articles. As a fellow stem graduate – Physics Msc (Southampton) and Biomedical Science Bsc (Portsmouth) here – I imagine you know the difference in the relative value of these sources. Mine, if you bothered to read them, constructed a narrative, a story to follow in order that lead you to a most inevitable conclusion. You failed to bring the other pertinent fact to the table. How much Lewis spends on charity. Given the accusation was that he was saving money, this seems important, no? To complete your narrative? Even then it would not necessarily be be a genuine issue – the government creates these schemes to incentivise certain behaviour in the rich, the government willingly gives up that money for other reasons. Who would you be to say that the government are wrong – that would be governments of both colours who have allowed Lewis to continue to not pay that tax. Clearly the treasury believes they get more value out of him this way. But none of this has addressed the glaring issue in the room. That’s not what you built a strawman over. Why are you claiming that’s what I accused you of – is it a lack of reading comprehension? Or are you arguing in bad faith and hoping I wouldn’t notice?

            Now that you’ve been given a chance to answer that, we turn to the substance of the strawman, which was nothing to do with Lewis’ tax avoidance you seem set on bringing up – presumably because you want to change the debate onto one you’re more comfortable that you are going to gain popular support on. I find it odd that you claim that 50 years ago, all STEM students attended the same group of lectures. I point again to my example. What use has a future doctor got, in an already packed 7 years of learning a very small amount of a very broad topic – why would they spend several months of their precious and packed timetable to travel to an observatory to measure Doppler shift in distant galaxies, and using that calculate the age of the universe? I’m struggling to understand why you think that’s a valuable skill for everyone to learn. I can tell you exactly why that’s a valuable skill for an astronomer to learn, but not a blood transfusion scientist, or a ship bridge computer engineer or a wind tunnel designer etc. Please enlighten us rather than just repeat as if by rote, that all children should learn the same skills in education to equip them for the 21st century. In fairness, that going to an observatory example is probably done at secondary level these days, if so, then switch out that example for deriving the existence of the Higgs field, and spending a month at Cern.

            It couldn’t possibly be could it, that I, and all the very well educated folks that I referenced aren’t wrong and that children from different backgrounds do face different difficulties in education, whether they are learning identical skills or different.

            I know, I know that 50 years ago, you have a story about you and a bunch of your uni mates all attending the same lectures, and as you brought up time to disparage my sources, allow me to return the favour and point out that 50 years ago, education was rubbish compared to now. Not one of my sources was over 50 years old. What they did 50 years ago wasn’t necessarily as good as what they are doing now, Besides which, that doesn’t necessarily mean that students can see the difference.

            For example, we know with 100% certainty that the reason why poor white working class males (and yes, I do know about white working class students. Why don’t you go back to the paper you know this from, and look at the authors. I use my real name here.) are only achieving 5 GCSE’s at a rate of roughly 25% is because their parents see accepting help as a sign of weakness. So the way to help these students is to focus on getting their parents to accept and engage with the support that is already out there for them. As a student in school with a poor white student, you wouldn’t _see_ that Baz’s dad is going to alcoholics anonymous, and he’s sure as anything not going to tell you. All you see is Baz going to the same lessons and then, starts to do a lot better at school, because he isn’t coming home to a paralytic and abusive drunk.

            Now neither of us know how Lewis plans to help kids, we certainly do not know if he’s planning – as you so eloquently… or bluntly put it – educational apartheid. So this was you constructing yet another of these strawman arguments you are so fond of.

            So maybe we can work towards an agreement to say that this could be a good thing and it could be made worse if Lewis expands this scheme to cover children with problems that his chosen techniques will fail to address. Nothing about colour, just a limit of tacking problems one has the skills to tackle. We’ll move onto the different problems kids from different backgrounds face if you can agree to the very basic premise that it can be harmful to tackle a problem that you don’t have the skills to tackle. I don’t want an astronomer treating my cancer, thanks.

        2. On the bit of giving help where it is most needed – that’s what voting for the people who intend to do that might help @gnosticbrian, though it clearly isn’t a simple, guaranteed outcome, but can be a step towards improving society on the whole.

          In the mean time, setting up a foundation as Hamilton does here, using his own fortune to reduce barriers for young people to work in a field he cares for, is something he can do to amend injustices where he sees them; not shifting money away from others (that’s what politics has to do, assuming a fixed budget), but adding extra opportunities to a group close to his heart, seems like a good thing to me.

          1. bosyber – a cynic might observe that if Hamilton wanted to improve the lot of UK children then paying UK taxes and not indulging in elaborate VAT avoidance schemes would have been in order. But virtue signalling is far cheaper.

          2. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 13:41

            Got a source for that claim? I mean, such a go getting, vigorous young spirited notagit as yourself is sure to have plenty of them to hand – like how much he had avoided in tax and how much he has paid to charity. Surely, to say these things as fact, you know for sure that they are indeed. Facts. Right?

    3. @gnosticbrian so on the basis of these facts, disadvantaged white kids struggle more academically than equivalent black kids. And yet as adults, black people have a lower average income than white people. Does that not suggest that some bias is in place? You only provided stats for disadvantaged people, not across all backgrounds so obviously these two things are not directly comparable, but there should be some relation between the two.

      But regardless, Hamilton is doing his bit to help young people learn skills and get into good jobs. This is not at the expense of others – it’s not a zero sum game. It is possible to create opportunities for people without taking them away from others so any efforts to help the young people of this country should be welcomed, whether it helps your own demographic or not.

      1. Keith – I was focussing on working class children.

        “employees of Chinese, Indian and Mixed or Multiple ethnicity all had higher median hourly pay than White British employees in 2018; while employees in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups had lowest median hourly pay” – source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2018 .

        Averages are strange things – I suspect that you [like me] have more than the average number of legs.

        Recent, young immigrants are unlikely to be main board directors of Footsie 100 companies. But the ONS survey adjusts to ensure ‘like for like’ comparisons and has some good[ish] news: “The existing pay gap between White British and other ethnic groups is generally smaller for younger employees than it is for older employees”.

        In my view, and it is just my view, we are coming from a very bad starting position but we are making positive progress. I wish that it could be speeded up. I don’t see segregation as an answer.

        1. @gnosticbrian So these stats indicate that some ethnicities are doing well in terms of wages, while others are not doing as well. Isn’t it a good thing that Hamilton is using his position to help one of the ethnicities which clearly has some obstacles holding them back in their careers? I struggle to see how helping some children achieve better careers will have any negative impact on others.

          That quote doesn’t particularly give any positive news as far as I can see. All it says is that the wage gap between white British and other ethnic groups increases for older employees compared to younger ones. That could indicate that there is less extra difficulty in getting starting positions for ethnic groups, but that they find it harder to gain promotions and achieve better wages, which is obviously a problem in itself.

          1. Keith – ” I struggle to see how helping some children achieve better careers will have any negative impact on others” – so the boys at Winchester, Eton et al enjoy no educational advantage over those at ‘bog standard state comprehensives’? And remember, Eton was founded by King Henry VI as a charity school to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King’s College, Cambridge, founded by the same King in 1441.

            If succesful, helping the children above the least advantaged to do better will obviously increase the gap to the least advantaged.

            We need a system that provides equal opportunities to ALL of our children, not just the favoured ones.

            “All it says is that the wage gap between white British and other ethnic groups increases for older employees compared to younger ones” – no. That is just a statistical reflection of past prejudice. It will work its way through the age spectrum if we continue to make improvements.

            Does the higher percentage of staff in medical roles (working as doctors in hospitals and community health services) from the Asian, Chinese, Mixed and Other ethnic groups than in non-medical roles reflect prejudice or talent? https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/nhs-workforce/latest

    4. How is the category “White working class” being determined in your “statistics”?

    5. Whataboutism.

  8. He’s been ‘doing this’ for the last decade through various bodies. Unfortunately I have neither the time or the crayons to explain it all to you.
    Not that I have to as ‘I have the feeling’ that you nothing but a dumb racist.

  9. Well done Lewis, and may I take this opportunity to apologise for assuming you were (as misquoted) unaware of the working class backgrounds of several previous WDC.

    1. He said first black working class! That doesn’t mean he’s ignoring others.

      1. @kgn11, Do I have to explain everything, in yesterday’s article he was misquoted, read in the brackets, without the words “first black”, in fact IIRC he was (mis)quoted as saying he was the ONLY working class WDC.

      2. @gnosticbrian Comparing a new charity or commission to Eton college seems like a bit of a stretch. This isn’t a new school, college or university – I don’t know how it will run in any detail but at most it would be a supplementary educational establishment which I doubt would be able to create the kind of elitist environment you’re envisioning.

        Obviously any new charity could evolve over time and move away from its initial goals until it becomes something unrecognisable, and even counterproductive to its stated goals. But the initial goals outlined seem to be genuine and with the interests of the community at heart. I don’t see any reason we should judge a charity to be responsible for some kind of elitism before it has even started. They are aiming to help some of the most disadvantaged children with their careers, and that should be commended. Obviously charities have to choose where and how to use their resources, and they won’t be able to help everyone, but this is a good start.

        You stated your interpretation of the wage gap statistic. That’s not something I’d considered but it could be a factor. I very much doubt it is the entire reason though.

        I don’t know all the reasons behind the representation of different ethnic groups in the medical profession. You gave a choice of prejudice or talent, but other factors such as cultural differences could be equally or more significant.

        Anyway, I think a lot of these issues are quite off-topic so at this point we probably need to agree to disagree. I don’t think either of us are getting anywhere debating this. Suffice to say I think Hamilton is doing a good thing and I hope this commission can help bring forward some positive change.

        1. This comment appeared in the wrong place. It was a reply to the comment chain above.

        2. Keith – I observe that you have not addressed: “”I struggle to see how helping some children achieve better careers will have any negative impact on others” – so the boys at Winchester, Eton et al enjoy no educational advantage over those at ‘bog standard state comprehensives’?”

          You misunderstand the thrust on my Eton comment. I was trying to say, and in your case evidently failed, that what started out as a charity for the poorest boys morphed into its antithesis. Who, nowadays, would guess at the antecedents of Eton?

  10. Hat down. I think we can only appreciate this kind of initiative.

  11. Motorsport is an incredibly diverse sport, especially Formula One.
    You have drivers from all walks of life, different ethnicities, different languages and backgrounds.
    You have drivers from as north as Finland, from as east as Thailand and from as west as Mexico.

    I guess Hamilton doesn’t care about that diversity because it doesn’t fit into his virtue-signalling agenda.

    1. William Jones
      20th June 2020, 23:25

      What’s a “virtue signalling agenda”? Because if it’s doing something to help get kids who otherwise wouldn’t get the chance into education, then why is that a bad thing?

    2. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      20th June 2020, 23:30

      How many black drivers are there, and ever have been, in F1? One? So diverse.

    3. @smartez

      Perhaps it’s not that Hamilton doesn’t care about other forms of diversity, but instead that he feels a more stronger emotional connection to the issue of a severe lack of black representation in motorsport, because, well… he’s black?

      Think before you speak.

    4. Motorsport is an incredibly diverse sport, especially Formula One.
      You have drivers from all walks of life, different ethnicities, different languages and backgrounds.
      You have drivers from as north as Finland, from as east as Thailand and from as west as Mexico.

      No, it isn’t diverse. F1 doesn’t solely consist of racing drivers. F1 lacks diversity across the full spectrum….from engineers, to mechanics, to hospitality staff, to doctors, etc etc etc….In these other facets of the industry there’s virtually zero diversity.

      1. NeverElectric
        21st June 2020, 19:19

        The people most resistant to what clearly is positive change, are usually the ones who see themselves or their interests losing the most as a result of that change.
        There will be lots of bitter people about this. They’re the type that are also bitter whenever Hamilton wins, the ones that call him unflattering feminised nicknames and who repeat the debunked “it’s the car, not the drive” trope when he puts in stellar performances.
        They’re in ample supply here – just ignore them.

    5. What you mean to say is: F1 is diverse enough for me.

      We’ve had 163 F1 drivers from the UK. 1 has been black.

      I don’t know if you see when the tv cuts to pit crews, pit walls, team celebrations? Well i’m sure you do and you know it is not diverse one little bit.

      Lewis recongises there is a problem with diversity in motorsport and in the engineering sector so is starting a comission to reduce barriers to entry for kids from a BAME background. If you have a genuine issue with this then you i think you have an issue with concept of diversity.

  12. Marcus Rashford campaigns for disadvantaged kids, brilliant, no question.

    Lewis Hamilton campaigns only for black kids saying

    opportunities to engage more black youth with STEM extracurriculars, barriers that prevent people from more diverse backgrounds joining the racing industry, and problematic hiring practices that result in fewer black graduates entering engineering professions

    Vague insinuations. He might mean well but making this leg up about some immutable physical characteristic that nobody has control over? Doesn’t he realise what that makes him?

    1. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      20th June 2020, 23:31

      Black ambitions matter.

      1. Ambitions matter.

        1. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
          22nd June 2020, 8:43

          Some more than others at the moment.

    2. William Jones
      20th June 2020, 23:43

      Why don’t you tell us what that makes him? I tell you why, because you already know the argument.

      Marcus Rashford didn’t, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, campaign for all disadvantaged kids. He campaigned only for British kids. No Egyptian, Chinese, Peruvian etc kids getting food thanks to Marcus. Doesn’t he realise that makes him a xenophobe? And why did he only help kids from the 6th largest economy in the world. Why didn’t he help the kids in North Korea, they are much worse off. Or perhaps, Marcus Rashford is no more a xenophobe that Lewis Hamilton is a racist for choosing boundaries on who they are campaigning to help. Just maybe we can’t solve every problem in the world all at once, and just maybe people identifying that they have the skills to help some people but not others is still a good thing.

      1. And apart from that, despite Hamilton having a lot of money, and a big platform for a motorsport guy which he uses for causes close to his heart all over the world, it is clear that soccer as a whole (and thus also a young and upcoming player like Rashford) has a lot more influence in the UK, and that’s why Rashford was able to directly apply to the government succesfully. If Hamilton had that power, he’d probably have a bigger title by now.

        1. Football is a working class sport, motorsport inherently isn’t.

      2. William Jones. Don’t disrespect the efforts of Marcus Rashford whose actions were intelligent, unbiased, and they addressed a specific and known British problem. He then made a direct call to a person who could make a difference and lo, it happened. World class persuasion, guaranteed to make a difference.

        You on the other hand take his words and add ‘all’ instead of just ‘kids’ to argue your own strawman that somehow Marcus’s efforts were weak because they didn’t encompass the whole planet, and therefore xenophobic? That’s really odd..

        1. William Jones
          21st June 2020, 9:59

          Whoosh!

          My point exactly.

  13. Haven’t been a fan of his outrage culture tweets lately, but kudos to him for doing this.
    A positive step forward.

    1. @cm-cm – thanks for that – I thought it was just me :)

  14. HAM has been in this sport for more than 20 years. The diversity has always been there. And he’s founding the commission (humbly named by himself) only now, when there’s a lot of hype around? What coincidence!

    1. So you are completely ignorant of the work he has done for the last 10 years with UNICEF, Save the Children, GOSH, Renaissance, Alperton, Global Teacher Initiative, Education Africa, Help the Heroes, Invictus, Honeypot, Harlem Zone, etc? And if you think setting this up with bodies such as the UN and Royal Academy can be done in a week or two etc then you really are woefully ignorant.

  15. exploring how motorsport can be used as a vehicle to engage more young people from black backgrounds

    Exploring? Why not directly providing scholarship for motorsports related STEM education?

    How you going to define who has a ‘black backgrounds’? Colour palette, DNA or anyone who identified themselves as black? Was someone mixed race like Lewis eligible?

    1. William Jones
      21st June 2020, 10:08

      Lewis is ‘Black British’, one of the two black backgrounds in the uk, the other being black. Lewis is not ‘mixed other’, the only uk classification which uses the word mixed, because that category is reserved for when both parents are ethnic minorities that are different to one another.

      Unless you are casting Trumpian like aspersions on Lewis’ mother’s’ heritage, then please stop trying to spread the lie that Lewis is not black.

      Also, I am mixed race, I do come under the mixed other category but as my father was from a black heritage, then I am also from a black background, so even your inference that someone who is ‘mixed’ isn’t black is demonstrably false.

      1. I really can’t understand that. What if you, just like your father, married a non-black woman. Does your son still have a black background? How much blackness is still considered black?

        1. William Jones
          21st June 2020, 11:07

          I did, and my son is half me, half Italian. He’s covered by only one category as well: “White, Other”. Presumably, if he marries an English woman, his children will be “White, English”, a Welsh woman, “White, Welsh” etc

          1. UK is weird. I hope someday there’s no authority categorized people based on their colour. It’s just pseudoscience anyway.

          2. William Jones
            21st June 2020, 12:26

            Agreed, it’s a tool to identify people who are for whatever reason not doing so well. If we got rid of it today, we wouldn’t know and understand that white, working class kids aren’t doing as well in school or the reasons why. While it’s a useful categorisation, it will remain.

            I’m not sure calling it pseudo-science is helpful, unless that’s your opinion of all the social sciences, in which case, that’s a discussion for a different day. Grouping people into categories to extract useful data is a science that has contributed just as much as physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and all the derivatives to the advancement of humanity. Without studying the social sciences, we would see much more violent crime and have less tools with which to fight diseases. We would have a more inefficient system when it comes to placing people into the roles most suited for their skillsets, and people would be less skilled overall. If you think education is important for humans, then you are advocating for social science, because the science of education is exactly that.

            Think of Physics, when Newton formulated his, now known to be incorrect laws. They were incredibly useful, despite the world knowing they were wrong. They carried us for 400 years, yet Mercury proved them wrong. It didn’t matter, outside of Mercury’s orbit, they allowed us to go from dreaming about flight to the early jet fighter. When Einstein produced his version of the formulas, that have stood ever since, we still teach Newton, because it’s still useful. That’s what race categorisations are to social science. Yes, we know they are ultimately going to be abandoned, yes, their usefulness has a shelf life. But while they are still useful, we’ll still turn education into the early jet fighters version of education with it. We’ll still turn disease control into the radar detection of disease control with it. You get the point, I hope.

    2. Yes, Lewis’s initiative is problematic from the outset.

  16. Jack (@jackisthestig)
    21st June 2020, 6:13

    That’s more like it. Positive action rather than calling out your peers for not joining in the virtue signalling on twitter and Instagram. Engaging people at a young age as F1 in Schools and the Bloodhound Land Speed record projects have done is a great way to give them the confidence to pursue careers in this sector when they are older.

    1. Racism & systemic oppression is not virtue signalling

      1. A positive step forward, eager to see how this translates into action. It may be a while before we see the bearing fruit but as with an positive movement it is always better late than never.

        Also, praising the current diversity of motorsport, dubbing this “positive discrimination” and exclaiming “all lives matter” are simply laughable attempts to brush challenging yet important issues under the carpet, and I can’t help but question the motives of people that I can only assume feel personally threatened by movements such as this.

        1. He said, “I hope that when I look back 20 years”

          Change takes time.

  17. Thank you, Lewis!
    You are truly making this world better!

  18. He actually has taken the right path. Those who will show interest and prove that they are capable will be rewarded with a position in their field of interest. And this is how it should be, while the majority of modern protestors which are rioting and looting right now think the opposite, that they should get it all without any effort, just because they are riding a gulit trip train. Point scored by Hamilton.

    But if we look on the other side: How many slovenian, serbian, croatian, etc. drivers were in F1? Basicly none of them get any serious chances as well, but noone seems to care. Balkan countries and its citizens are and allways been a place for exploitation and dumping ground for Europe. And nobody cares.

  19. Excellent, Lewis is finally putting action to words. Very commendable.

    Now let’s hope that Lewis stops looking at symptoms and starts looking at causes, like poverty.

  20. Mr. Hamilton is a rich kid, that got his first racing cart at the age 6 from his father and now fails to pay his fair share of taxes by moving to Switzerland. How dare he to claim the world is not just and lecture others on privilege?

    1. Good point, And I’m sure you agree that all those from abroad who make their homes in the UK should not pay tax here, but instead pay it to their country of origin. So basically people born here pay taxes, people who come to live here from other countries don’t have to pay tax.

    2. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      22nd June 2020, 8:44

      Rich kid….now. how rich was he as a young black kid growing up in Stevenage.

  21. A team made up from people of different backgrounds will consistently outperform a team made up from people of the same background. Very impressive Mr Hamilton Formula one and motor racing industry in general can only benefit from this.

  22. Another comments section showing exactly why despite loving motorsports, I can’t stand any motorsports events. This is one of the better comments sections. Car guys are trash.

  23. From my perspective, Hamilton was always privileged and rich. A prerequisite for F1 is that your father is rich.

  24. The prime reason for Hamilton’s attention grabbing is merely intense groundwork ,all planned for in the quest for a Knighthood. As an aside, i would tend to think that Hamilton’s background, as promoted ad nauseum, is somewhat misleading. Yes, his father had to work two jobs to support the karting…in the beginning. Lots of families undertake hardships for and on behalf of their kids, nothing spectacular there. The fact is that Tony Parnell, via his company Pi Research, helped sponsor Hamilton until at the age of 12/13 he was picked up by Ron Dennis who paid for all his carts etc and even paid for a tutor to ensure that the young Hamilton got a decent education whilst learning the ropes.Now tell me if that that wasn’t a privilege?

    1. Is that right? A knighthood! Funny I heard he was only doing it to wind up the racists on the social media forums. They seem to have crawled out of the woodwork lately for some reason. And thanks for putting me right on the sponsorship thing. I thought he got that because he was extremely dedicated and talented. Didn’t realise he just got it all handed to him because he was from a privileged background. Lucky he turned out to be reasonably good at driving cars then.

      1. @ian dearing….obviously sarcasm isn’t your strongest point. Why is it that anyone who doesn’t see eye to eye with your outlook automatically be labelled as racist? You are not the only ones with an opinion. The sport/business already caters for talented drivers of mixed race. like Hamilton, and i am equally certain that irrespective of this latest ‘virus’ that it will continue to do so. Albon and Wehrlein before his are perfect examples of how this already works but i’m sure you’ll ignore that.

  25. Some of the comments on here are quite insidious & strange. So living on a council estate, father starting off as a lowly British Rail admin clerk, having to initially use 2nd hand karting gear, is being born into “privileges & riches”? Lol! Some people would convince themselves water is wet if it meant it would give them a reason to criticise Hamilton. There’s a lot of ignorance in this comment section. And even if Hamilton was “born into privilege” (which he wasn’t), that doesn’t mean he can’t be proactive in wanting t to do something to help kids less fortunate than himself.

    Anyway, Kudos to Hamilton. This is a step in the right direction.

    1. * Edit:

      Water isn’t wet

  26. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    21st June 2020, 19:57

    I love it, we all know Lewis is probably one of the all time greats no matter if it was a McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull he were driving but I sense he will be a superstar once done with F1.

  27. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtUH0OBRf3/

    Whose the black guy marching with Angela?

  28. “If someone put a program together that only whites could be promoted would have people up in arms”

    Those programs have been in place for centuries that’s why we are at this point. This is about righting those wrongs.

  29. Excellent initiative by Lewis.
    Let’s hope it goes well.
    There’s lots of things wrong in the way Hamilton is dealing with this issues. This initiative is completely on target, and the fact of being target to help people have degrees that could be used in the job market instead of just trying to find a new F1 driver is really refreshing

  30. I know what you’re getting at here but it’s important to understand that these diversity programmes are often put in place to combat inclusive selection in interviews and application processes. Often times their is ingrained biases towards people from a certain culture, background, class and race. You just have to look at the engineering, automobile and motorsport sectors to see that they are very white and often there are barriers that stop people from a BAME or working class people making it. This isn’t all about coming in at the recruitment or promotion phase and saying “Pick that person because they are Black”. We’ll find out more details about this comission but you can see already its talking about putting things in place at an early age to help support young BAME people have more avenues when it comes to STEM education. It’s certaintly not racist to try and reduce the barriers that exist in society for kids from BAME and/or working class backgrounds trying to get into motorsport or engineering work.

  31. Top move by Hamilton. Hope he wins another WDC this season and a knighthood finally follows. A true humanitarian who knows where he’s come from and appreciates what he’s worked for.

  32. Political correctness is why I don’t give a flip about F1 anymore…

    1. Is that why you’re here?

    2. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      22nd June 2020, 8:45

      PC chased you away from F1? Really?

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