‘You have to be twice as good’ – being black in motorsport

During episode two, both young men are invited to meet their idol, Lewis Hamilton, at Mercedes’ headquarters.

Hamilton, 37, is the first and only black driver to ever race in Formula 1. In a conversation with Stanislaus and Appiagyei, the seven-time world champion shares some of his experiences as a black athlete in motorsport.

Hamilton says that “being the only person of colour on the track” was his biggest challenge when starting out in the sport.

In 2019, the veteran driver set up the Hamilton Commission, with the aim to improve representation of black people in motorsport.

Research, external by the commission in July 2021 suggested that the proportion of black people in Formula 1 is less than 1%.

“There’s a lack of diversity through big, big companies, organisations, from the top, all the way down to the bottom and there’s very little black leadership, so I put this commission together to try and find out what are the barriers for underserved communities getting into this sport,” says Hamilton.

“Why are they not applying to jobs, why are they not being fed through the university? Also, people particularly from African and Caribbean heritage, their parents – because they don’t see anybody here that looks like them, they don’t think, ‘that could be me’.”

Beyond representation, Hamilton suggests that finance could be a barrier to entry for some communities.

“The problem with our sport is that it is expensive,” he adds.