Lewis Hamilton‘s seismic success is celebrated on the cover of WSJ‘s Innovators Issue.
En route to becoming the most decorated Formula 1 champion ever, the superstar sportsman’s story is defined by overcoming obstacles, sliding past curves, and conquering the circuits the world over.
And now he’s on a quest to make the sport more accessible for all.
Named the magazine’s first-ever Sports Innovator, the 36-year-old opened up to the publications about his illustrious career, racism, and making a change.
Pics and quotes below…
Hamilton on his Breonna Taylor statement T-shirt at Mugello:
For the statement to land, nothing else would do. “I can’t be second,” he told himself. “I’m wearing that shirt; I’ve got to get to first to bring light to her name.”
He took the checkered flag for the 90th time in his F1 career. Then, he says, “I get these nerves like, Shoot, I’m about to break the rules and people aren’t going to be happy
with it.” The sport’s authorities announced shortly after Mugello that drivers must go through the entire post-race protocol wearing their driving suits closed to the neck.
“Well,” Hamilton says with a shrug when I remind him, “they’ve changed a lot of rules after a lot of things that I’ve done.”
Hamilton on diversity in the sport:
“My dad and I would watch people like Tiger [Woods] who kind of broke the mold, and we watched in admiration. The Williams sisters also did the same,” he says. “We’re like, ‘Oh, if we could do something like that, that’s going to help change the industry moving forward.’”
A jarring realization hit him at the end of the 2019 season as he looked at photos of his team celebrating its sixth straight title. “I zoomed in on them, from the F1 Instagram,” he says. “I’ve been here 15 years, 14 years—how has it not changed? I was really sad about it. I was frustrated and sad.”
Hamilton on racism he’s experienced:
At one event in Spain in 2008, people showed up in blackface, wearing shirts that read “Hamilton’s Family,” before trying to explain that blackface and offensive T-shirts somehow weren’t racist. “I remember the pain that I felt that day, but I didn’t say anything about it; I didn’t have anyone,” he says. “No one said anything.”
“I saw people continuing in my industry and staying quiet.”
Hamilton on pushing for accountability and change in his contract:
Not only did Hamilton’s latest contract, signed during the 2021 season, include stipulations for increasing diversity within the team—Hamilton also spoke directly with the team’s sponsors asking them to do the same. “Where are you guys at?” he remembers asking the CEO of the Monster energy drink company, which has backed him since 2013. “How are you guys holding yourself accountable? How can we work together? If one says, ‘No, we’re totally fine; we don’t need to do it,’” Hamilton adds, “I won’t be working with them.”
Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolf on Hamilton:
“We must stop putting people into boxes. Everybody functions differently,” Wolf tells me. “If you’re as successful, who can hold it against you? Seven-time world champion, you hold the records in the most wins and the pole positions, you can show up with a pink suede tracksuit…. If you’re not winning, people will see you as a fool.”
Wolf on whether there would be a push for diversity at F1 without Hamilton:
“Maybe initiatives would have taken place, but certainly not in the dimension that Lewis triggered,” he says.
Lewis disagrees:
“I’m pretty sure that nothing would’ve changed,” he says. “I’m 36 years old; I’ve been wondering, Why me? Why am I the only Black driver that’s got through to Formula 1, and not only that—I’m at the front? There’s got to be a bigger reason for me being here.”