The Hamilton Commission

Shazneen Mistry

www.mediaeyenews.com

The Hamilton Commission, the initiative set up by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to increase the representation of  Black people in UK motor-sport, has published its first report into the issue, which includes 10 recommendations for change.

Lewis Carl Hamilton, born on January 7, 1985, is from Stevenage, England. He is a British race-car driver who is one of the most successful Formula One (F1) Grand Prix Racer-diver of all time. He owns the F1 record for career race victories and is tied with Michael Schumacher for the most drivers’ championships (seven). In 2008 he became the first Black driver to win the F1 world drivers’ championship.

 Lewis Hamilton received a knighthood from the Queen of England herself. He will henceforth be known as Sir Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is hardly the first sportsman to receive such an honor. Now, he joins an elite list that includes Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, and Frank Williams. Before this, he received an MBE recognition from the British crown. The MBE is a little more common, with several sports stars receiving it. This list is created to recognize the achievements of people belonging to different fields. This could include show business, sports, and even politics. The list also brings to notice, the contributions of citizens to society.

As the first Black driver in Formula 1, Sir Lewis Hamilton was always aware of the lack of diversity across the motor-sport industry. But this under-representation is not just limited to the driver pool, and also includes those who work in the garage and the engineers in the factories too.

After reviewing the lack of diversity within the end-of-season photo in 2019, Lewis was spurred to take action and set out to understand the specific barriers to the recruitment and progression of Black people within UK motor-sport. He always felt the need for real industry-wide change, but to make this change happen himself, he needed to know the facts.

As a result, Lewis formed The Hamilton Commission, alongside The Royal Academy of Engineering, which presented an opportunity to simultaneously address the under-representation of Black people in UK motor-sport and 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 Motor-sport.

They include:

• Asking F1 teams and other motor-sport organizations to take the lead in implementing a diversity and inclusion charter for motor-sport.
• Calling F1 teams and motor-sport bodies to broaden access to motor-sport by expanding apprenticeship and work experience programs.
• Creating a new exclusions innovation fund to develop programs to reduce the proportion of Black backgrounds being excluded from schools.
• Supporting new approaches to increase the number of Black teachers in STEM projects.
• Launching scholarship program to help Black graduates with degrees in engineering to progress to motor-sport roles.