The Hamilton Commission, the initiative set up by the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to increase the representation of Black people in UK motorsport, has released its first report into the issue, which includes 10 recommendations for change.
The Mercedes driver -- who is the first Black superstar in F1 history -- launched the new research partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering last June with the aim of making motorsport "as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in".
Lewis Hamilton was always aware of the lack of diversity across the motorsport industry but after reviewing the end-of-season photo in 2019, he was spurred to take action himself and set out to understand the specific barriers to the recruitment and progression of Black people within UK motorsport. Lewis has been vocal about the need for real industry-wide change, but in order for this change to happen, he needed to know the facts and understand where and what action will have the biggest impact.
As a result, Lewis formed The Hamilton Commission, alongside The Royal Academy of Engineering, which presented an opportunity to simultaneously address the underrepresentation of Black people in UK motorsport as well as the STEM sector.
Following a ten-month research period, which included initial data analysis, stakeholder mapping, a literature review in sport, education, and employment, as well as primary quantitative and qualitative research with young people and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, The Hamilton Commission has published its report, Accelerating Change: Improving Representation of Black People in UK Motorsport.
The report has stated that only 1 per cent of employees in F1 are from Black backgrounds.
In a bid to drive change, the Commission has identified 10 recommendations it believes will have a positive impact on the motorsport industry and encouraging more young Black students to pursue careers in engineering. This includes asking F1 teams and other motorsport orgsations to take the lead in implementing a diversity and inclusion charter for motorsport, calling for F1 teams and motorsport bodies to broaden access to motorsport by expanding apprenticeship and work experience programmes, and creating a new exclusions innovation fund to develop programmes to reduce the proportion of students from Black backgrounds being excluded from schools.
The report has also recommended supporting new approaches to increase the number of Black teachers in STEM projects and the launching of scholarship programmes to help Black graduates with degrees in engineering to progress to motorsport roles.
Hamilton said in a release: "Given the right opportunities and support, young people can excel at whatever they put their minds to, but our research shows that many young Black people are being closed out of opportunities within STEM, and having their full potential limited.
"While I have enjoyed a successful career in motorsport, it's been a lonely path as one of the few Black individuals within Formula 1 and, after 15 years of waiting for the industry to catch up, I realised I had to take action myself."
F1 President and CEO of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali said the sport is committed to change and will take action. "The Hamilton Commission has delivered a comprehensive and impressive report that shows the passion Lewis has for this very important issue. We will take the time to read and reflect on all of the findings, but we completely agree that we need to increase diversity across the sport and we have taken action to address this and will be announcing more actions in the coming days," Domenicali said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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