Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff unanimously claim THIS winning factor will help improve their results in future races 

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff believe more diversity will make Mercedes a better team.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff unanimously claim THIS winning factor will help improve their results in future races 

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Image via PlanetF1)

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently attended the Forbes Iconoclast Summit. They used the platform to discuss diversity in the sport and the future of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. The duo also revealed a factor that will help them improve as a team and contribute to their success. They believe the key is the increase in diversity. 

Lewis Hamilton spoke about diversity, a subject close to his heart, at the Forbes Iconoclast Summit, an event held on June 13th. He stated, “We want to make sure that we’re champions, and we’re pushing and creating that opportunity that could transform the lives of underprivileged kids on the way up.” Time and again, Hamilton has spoken about the lack of diversity in Formula 1. 

YouTube video

The Mercedes driver believes in taking action and has tried to provide opportunities in motorsport for ethnic minorities and other underrepresented groups. Lewis Hamilton launched the Hamilton Commission in 2020, aiming to improve Black people’s representation in UK Motorsport. One year after its launch, the initial Hamilton Commission report revealed that only 3 percent of Mercedes’ employees were people of color. Another surprising factor was that only 11 percent were women. 

Related: It’s OFFICIAL: Sebastian Vettel set to make a long-awaited return to Red Bull at Nurburgring 

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff hope to increase the diversity within F1

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Image via Formula1News.co.uk)
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Image via Formula1News.co.uk)

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff addressed this subject. He stated, “We realized that we’re working against the demographic. When deciding who joins, I’m 100% convinced that this diversity, diversity of culture, of craft, of thinking, is going to make us a better team.” Three years later, the number has grown from 3 percent to 8.5 in including people of color and, from 11 percent to 16, regarding the female workforce within the team. 

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff have been pushing to increase the diversity within the sport. Mercedes also launched the Accelerate 25 program to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups. The goal was to hire at least 25 percent of candidates from diverse backgrounds, but the initiative exceeded that mark as they hired 38 percent. Wolff believes that this would bring up their performance. 

Hamilton also founded Mission 44 charitable foundation to build a fair and inclusive society. The priorities of this mission are education, employment, and empowerment. The focus is to help transform the lives of individuals from underserved backgrounds. Hamilton stated that they wanted to include more engineers in motorsport and create more opportunities for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Hamilton told the attendees at the Forbes event that they want to create a more inclusive environment. Both he and Wolff spoke about the importance of this subject. Apart from this, Wolff also shed light on their struggle since 2021. He admitted that they got the physics wrong.

However, things are looking up for the team. They secured their first double podium this season at the Spanish GP. The solid work by Hamilton and fellow driver George Russell moved the team to second place in the constructors’ standings. Mercedes will hope to keep the momentum going in the upcoming races. 

In case you missed it: