Hamilton Commission Report Takes On Diversity in UK Motorsport

July 16, 2021 

Seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton is on a mission to diversify UK Motorsport towards a more representative industry. On Tuesday, he took a major step with the release of a new report by the The Hamilton Commission, in collaboration with The Royal Academy of Engineering, that exposes the barriers to the recruitment and progression of Black people within the industry.   

Accelerating Change: Improving Representation of Black People in UK Motorsport explores why relatively few Black people participate - as a career or as athletes - and provides 10 recommendations targeting recruitment and progression. As reported in The Guardian, "the world champion has made a strong personal commitment to countering racial inequality and wanted to find ways to improve the racial mix across racing, which is still a predominantly white, male sport."

"While I have enjoyed a successful career in motorsport, it's been a lonely path as one of the few Black individuals within Formula One and, after 15 years of waiting for the industry to catch up, I realised I had to take action myself," said Hamilton. 

According to the Commission's website, as the first Black F1 driver, Hamilton was always aware of the lack of diversity across the motorsport industry. However, he also recognised that it wasn't limited to drivers, but also to those working in the garages and as engineers in the factories. After reviewing the underrepresentation in 2019, he was spurred to action to get the facts as to why. Ten months of comprehensive research followed beginning in June 2020.

The report found that only 1% of employees in F1 are from Black backgrounds. A number of factors were identified including, but not limited to, motorsport hiring practices that favoured students from a select group of high-ranking universities, geographical factors and a lack of diverse role models in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) teaching positions. 

"Some of these barriers I recognise from my own experiences, but our findings have opened my eyes to just how far reaching these problems are. Now that I'm armed with the commission's recommendations, I am personally committed to ensuring they are put into action," Hamilton added.

In a bid to drive change, the recommendations are divided into three areas: support and empowerment; accountability and measurement; and inspiration and engagement. The Commission believes that achieving them will have a positive impact on the motorsport industry and encourage more Black students to pursue careers in engineering. 

They include: 

• Asking F1 teams and other motorsport organisations 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. 
• Creating a new exclusions innovation fund to develop programmes to reduce the proportion of students from Black backgrounds being excluded from schools. 
• Supporting new approaches to increase the number of Black teachers in STEM projects. 
• Launching scholarship programmes to help Black graduates with degrees in engineering to progress to motorsport roles. 

Dr Hayaatun Sillem, CEO, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the first woman and person of colour to hold the position, said, “My hope is that this report will serve as a catalyst for action and stimulate the creation of cultures which will attract, retain and inspire many more talented Black engineering and STEM professionals across the full spectrum of UK motorsport roles."