Paris (AFP)
Six-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Saturday "sad and disappointed" about words by Bernie Ecclestone, ex-boss of Formula 1, who had estimated on CNN that "black people were sometimes more racist than white women. "
"I am so sad and disappointed to read these comments," the British Mercedes driver wrote on Instagram. "Bernie is out of another generation's sport, but that's exactly what's wrong."
Lewis Hamilton called the comments of Ecclestone, who ruled Formula 1 for 30 years, "ignorant and uneducated".
"They show us how far we will have to go, as a society, before real equality is possible," continued the 35-year-old pilot, who is very involved in social networks in the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
"I fully understand now that nothing has been said or done to make our sport more diverse or to combat the racist attacks I have suffered in my career," he added. Lewis Hamilton is partly from Grenada, a small island in the West Indies that his paternal grandfather left to settle in England. He is currently the only black driver in Formula 1.
"Now is the time for change. I will not stop pushing to create an inclusive future in our sport, with the same opportunities for everyone (...) I will continue to use my voice to give the say to those who do not have it, "assured the Briton.
Now far from the paddocks, Bernie Ecclestone founded in 1987 the company Formula One Management, responsible for the promotion and dissemination of Formula 1 throughout the world. He managed this company until 2017, the year of its acquisition by Liberty Media Group.
Ecclestone was questioned a few days ago by CNN about the creation by Lewis Hamilton of a diversity commission to attract more blacks in motorsport. "I don't think it does anything good or bad in Formula 1," said the 89-year-old Briton.
© 2020 AFP