Take a stand: The story of Lewis Hamilton’s activism

Sir Lewis Hamilton is a prime example of an activist changing an entrenched organisation

Words / Mark Gallagher

In London, on 21 June 2020, the Black Lives Matters march that was winding its way through central London was well attended. It was one of many that took place across the UK following the killing of George Floyd by policeman Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis less than four weeks earlier. Unnoticed in its midst, thanks in part to a bright yellow COVID mask, dark sunglasses and a black beanie pulled down over his ears, was Lewis Hamilton (since knighted in the New Year’s Honours list).

As Formula One’s biggest superstar, with 31 million followers on Twitter and Instagram – more than his key rivals combined – Hamilton has supercharged motorsport’s transition away from being “pale, male and stale”. More than that, he has used his profile and the leadership role that comes from being the sport’s statistically most successful driver of all time to push for initiatives around gender diversity, gay rights and environmental sustainability.

For Formula One’s leadership, there was an instant realisation that change was needed. Hamilton’s rise to prominence caused a major rethink about the sport’s lack of ethnic diversity and, in particular, how few black people work in motorsport. Some key figures were wrong-footed, insisting the sport was not inherently racist. That the sport had singularly failed to reach out to black fans and those from ethnic minorities, or to question why its demographic did not reflect the society it serves, was a topic seldom debated.

Hamilton changed all that. Buoyed by the positive response of his fan base to his blunt social media posts, he pushed the door to debate wide open, emboldening others to follow suit. For example, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has supported Hamilton’s campaigning and is now championing environmental causes such as sustainable farming and tackling the blight caused by litter.

It’s worth noting that when social media began to make its presence felt more than a decade ago, Formula One, under then-octogenarian Bernie Ecclestone, tried to ignore it or at least retain its primary reliance on mainstream media to reach its global fan base. Hamilton, together with a new generation of millennial and Gen Z drivers, has helped to transform that. Liberty’s takeover of Formula One in 2017 led to a rethink of social media both in terms of communicating values as well as listening to the views of stakeholder audiences.

Hamilton's campaigning has caused some awkward moments in the paddock

By the time the COVID-delayed World Championship started up again in July 2020, the sport had accelerated its strategy in relation to diversity and inclusion. At the start of each race, drivers bowed their heads or took the knee. Formula One also introduced the #WeRaceAsOne initiative and joined with the FIA’s #PurposeDriven campaign, aimed at ensuring that motorsport plays its part in tackling major societal challenges around diversity and inclusion, the environment, community development and health and safety. In hindsight, the November 2019 announcement that Formula One will abandon the use of fossil fuels in racing by 2026 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 could not have been better timed. In short, the sport’s leadership just about managed to avoid trailing in the wake of Hamilton’s campaigning.

What’s clear from Formula One’s experience is that leaders have a choice to make when tackling the issues that are important to engaged and socially connected employees, suppliers and customers. You can choose to play your part in driving positive changes that will ultimately benefit your business, or you can become a passenger on a journey of change over which you have no control.