Lewis Hamilton candidly chats to us about his experience of racism in the UK

Lewis Hamilton is well on the way to becoming one of the most successful sporting figures in the UK, and just days after winning his seventh Formula 1 title, equalling Michael Schumacher's amazing record in the process, Lewis popped into KISS for a candid chat.

The Mercedes driver, who won the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday 15th November 2020, joined KISS presenter Alex where he bravely opened up about his experience of racism in the UK, why he feels F1 has not moved on in his 14 years within the sport, and how THAT video of George Floyd affected him.

Despite being top of his game and being recognised as a Formula 1 legend, Lewis is keen to educate fans of the sport and has been an avid supporter of the Black Lives Matter campaign over the last year.

Speaking to KISS in 2020 about how he thinks his sport hasn't moved on throughout his 14-year career, Lewis said, “I thought me being here the last 14 years would have encouraged it to be a more diverse sport. But I remember standing the end of last year, and even this year.

"There’s not a lot of women there. It’s still a male, white dominated sport. When I stop, I’ll be replaced by a young white driver. There’s no other black kids currently coming through.”

As well as showing no signs of slowing down in the world of Formula 1, Lewis also has his heart set on making an important change in the sport.

Speaking about how he intends to create change, Lewis added, “It’s holding the people that are in power accountable every single day. If they don’t budge it’s calling them out, and putting them on blast. That’s what I’ve been doing but that’s not always the most constructive way. It’s more empowering people, saying look you can be a part of the change.

"That’s why with this Hamilton Commission we’re trying to understand what the barriers are stopping young black kids getting into STEM subjects and extracurricular activities so we know what to put our focus to, we know what to change.”

Lewis, who has a black father and a white mother, also opened up about how the tragic killing of American man George Floyd back in May 2020.

Speaking with emotion to Alex, the 35-year-old said, "It brought up all these emotions that I didn’t even realise I’d held on to since I was a kid.

"Growing up in the UK and being one of the only kids of colour within the school, being told to go back to my country, no matter what part of the country I was in whether I was up in Scotland or Newcastle or down south. I was racing all over. I couldn’t believe this was still happening.”

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• Lewis Hamilton
• Black Lives Matter
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