Lewis Hamilton Comments on Floyd Death Eventually Wake Up Formula One

It was almost a week after the tragic incident took place and, even though various celebrities around the world had already displayed their support for the protestors and their consternation over what had happened, nobody in Formula One had uttered one word on the subject up to that point.

Hamilton broke the silence and pointed an accusatory finger at Formula One - which he described as a "white-dominated sport" (which seems to be pretty accurate if you think about it) - calling for a reaction from the officials and drivers alike. Woken from their slumber, it wasn't long before the support came, with one of the most active voices coming from his team principal, Toto Wolff.

The former racing driver turned investor from Austria offered some very heartfelt insights from his relationship with Lewis which can only shed more light on what life must be like for the Briton inside Formula One, and any colored person on a day to day basis.

"We know that Lewis is always a strong supporter of any minorities," said Wolff. "To be honest, I have learned a lot from him as well. He has asked me the question once 'have you ever had the active thought that you are white?' And I said 'no, actually I have never thought about it' and he said 'well, you know, I need to think about it every day because I am being made aware that I am [black]'.

"Therefore, it's very difficult for us to comprehend how difficult it is and therefore I am happy and supportive that he has come out vocal. He is one of the ambassadors of this sport and I think it's good."

On Monday, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team released an official message via Twitter, and several other F1 drivers - including Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo - have spoken up since as well. There was even an official statement from the series itself saying "We stand with all those fighting against racism in any form."

Toto Wolff summed things up perfectly: "All of us can make a difference. Every single one of us must be part of a movement to stop these kinds of things happening."

We stand with all those fighting against racism in any form pic.twitter.com/hAfVG5ci1J

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 2, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

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This past week has been so dark. I have failed to keep hold of my emotions. I have felt so much anger, sadness and disbelief in what my eyes have seen. I am completely overcome with rage at the sight of such blatant disregard for the lives of our people. The injustice that we are seeing our brothers and sisters face all over the world time and time again is disgusting, and MUST stop. So many people seem surprised, but to us unfortunately, it is not surprising. Those of us who are black, brown or in between, see it everyday and should not have to feel as though we were born guilty, don’t belong, or fear for our lives based on the colour of our skin. Will Smith said it best, racism is not getting worse, it’s being filmed. Only now that the world is so well equipped with cameras has this issue been able to come to light in such a big way. It is only when there are riots and screams for justice that the powers that be cave in and do something, but by then it is far too late and not enough has been done. It took hundreds of thousands of peoples complaints and buildings to burn before officials reacted and decided to arrest Derek Chauvin for murder, and that is sad. Unfortunately, America is not the only place where racism lives and we continue to fail as humans when we cannot stand up for what is right. Please do not sit in silence, no matter the colour of your skin. Black Lives Matter. #blackouttuesday ý

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) on Jun 2, 2020 at 9:45am PDT

pic.twitter.com/YNwTrYutSM

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 1, 2020