With more than half a million pounds, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ Ignite partnership is supporting two initial projects, with more to come
A year ago, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes announced they would be working together to increase diversity and inclusion in motorsport as part of an initiative called Ignite. Now the partnership has released its first grants.
The recipients are Motorsport UK and the Royal Academy of Engineering, which will receive more than £500,000 for their projects. Motorsport UK’s programme aims to increase female participation in grassroots motorsport through the FIA’s Girls on Track initiative, which has been running since 2016.
The focus is now on “developing new partnerships to reach more communities with high proportions of low-income and ethnic minorities. “
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s programme supports scholarships for black students at Masters level in motorsport and will support at least ten candidates in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, with five candidates selected each year from the previous year of study.
Hamilton: Recent events as an incentive
“A lot has happened behind the scenes since the launch of Ignite, and I am delighted that Mercedes and I can further demonstrate our commitment to a more diverse industry in this way,” Hamilton comments on his initiative.
Explaining the selection, he says: “We chose these grants because they focus on supporting individuals from two important and underrepresented populations and bring us closer to our goal of increasing the number of women and black talent in sport. “
At the same time, the seven-time Formula One World Champion made it clear that the initial grants were only the beginning of a long-term programme, and in this context also referred to the recent controversies surrounding Nelson Piquet and Jüri Vips.
“The events of this week have shown us why there is still an urgent need to push for better representation in our industry. We need to focus more than ever on how we can change motorsport for the better and this is an exciting next step.”
Toto Wolff emphasises, “These sponsorships demonstrate the wide range of opportunities that can make a meaningful contribution to the overall goal of the partnership.”
“From inspiring motorsport events and experiences that showcase the possibilities of motorsport to thousands of girls and young women in the UK, to academic support for some of the brightest and best dark-skinned engineering students in the country,” said Wolff.
Mercedes pulls together with Hamilton
When asked if more needs to be done about racism in F1 – even in light of recent incidents – he says: “I don’t think these archaic voices are what F1 represents and shouldn’t speak for F1. We need to become more diverse here and we are doing that.”
And we’re doing it with clear targets. “We’re trying to hire at least 25 per cent of all our new recruits from underrepresented backgrounds over the next five years. Be it no longer from the high income bracket or a different religion, culture, skin colour,” the team boss explains.
This is exactly what is important to Hamilton as well, because it should not stop at promotion alone. “It’s not just that. Once they graduate, it’s to move on, either with us in the team, but also within the sport in general,” he stresses.
“We live in a time when a lot of people signal their support, but it’s often just lip service. We are actually about action. We follow up our money with action. So yes, I am really proud. But we need to get everyone on board to make a difference, because we can’t do it alone. “