London (AFP)
Britain's Lewis Hamilton, six-time Formula 1 world champion, is launching a diversity commission to attract more black people to the motorsport industry, including studying science, technology and math.
Very active on social networks since the start of the global campaign to combat racism, dubbed "Black Lives Matter", Hamilton is the only black F1 driver.
Launched in conjunction with the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Hamilton Commission wants to make motorsport a community "as diverse as the complex, multi-cultural world we live in," said Mercedes F1 driver in The Sunday Times. .
"During my whole career, I fought against racism, things were thrown at me when I was karting, fans blackened my face at one of my first Grands Prix, when I started in F1 in 2007 ", explains the best F1 driver in the world, aged 35.
"Despite my successes in the sport, the barriers that have made F1 very exclusive persist," adds Hamilton, for whom "it is not enough to point my finger at a good example of progress. Thousands of people are involved in this industry and this group needs to be more representative of society. "
The partnerships desired by its Commission should encourage young blacks to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in order to "increase the number of minorities represented in F1", hopes Hamilton.
"The time for platitudes and pretense is over. I hope the Hamilton Commission will allow real, tangible and measurable change," added the reigning world champion.
"When I look back, in twenty years, I want to see a sport that, after giving such shy working-class little black boy Stevenage, has become as diverse as the complex, multi-cultural world in which we live, "concludes Hamilton.
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