Reigning Formula 1 world champion, Lewis Hamilton has revealed during an interview with the BBC that the Black Lives Matter Movement gave him an extra reason and motivation to win some of the F1 races he won this year, 2020, as he wanted to use the platform winning to shine the spotlight on racism and some of the social issues an average black person is faced with, in the west. 
Lewis Hamilton who equalled Micheal Schumacher’s F1 title wins of a record 7 world Championships and even with a step further to surpass Schumacher’s total of 91 Grand Prix victories.
Lewis Hamilton who was voted the BBC 2020 Sports Personality of the Year, earlier in December. Through the year after the BLM movement and the F1 season was restarted always took to the grid clad in tops that had anti-racist slogans on them in support of the BLM movement. He would always also take a knee on the grid with his fist in the air.
His team, Mercedes, also adopted a black livery for the 2020 campaign in a stand against discrimination.
Hamilton, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s program on Saturday, December 26, said: “I had this extra drive in me to get to the end of those races.”
Speaking to historian and BBC presenter Professor David Olusoga: “It was a different drive than what I’ve had in me in the past – to get to the end of those races first so that I could utilise that platform [for Black Lives Matter] and shine the light as bright as possible.”
Asked by Olusoga if he had been concerned about the response to his stance, Hamilton replied: “There is no way that I could stay silent. And once I said that to myself, I didn’t hold any fear.”
Lewis Hamilton was also asked by presenter Nick Robinson about racism in his sport and the fact that he is the only black F1 driver.
“There are many other young kids of colour that deserve the opportunity to progress, have a great education, [who could] be an engineer or whatever it is they want. But the fact is, the opportunity is not the same for them,” said Hamilton. Hamilton also hinted that activism might be his next focus when he retires from racing. “The happiness and success of winning these championships is a wonderful thing, but it’s short-lived,” Hamilton added.
Photo Credit: Getty
