Hamilton on Andretti's team: 'A new team have to be diverse'
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton finished in P3 in Qualifying at the Losail Internation Circuit. As a result, at the press conference after qualifying, there was a good chance to ask the Briton on what he thinks about Mario Andretti's bid together with Cadillac to become the 11th team on the F1 grid. Hamilton shared his thoughts on the matter.
"Firstly, it wasn't that I support Andretti. I think from a driver's perspective, it's exciting to potentially see more cars. And then the idea of an 11th team, we have over 2000 people in our team, so that's a huge amount of jobs," Hamilton began in Qatar.
He continued: "But we have to make sure that the criteria, which is quite strict, is really respected. And I feel like we need to amend the criteria actually and make sure that there's an opportunity for real impact, really making sure that if there is a new team, they have to be diverse. They have to perhaps create an opportunity for a female driver to come through. And it has to be diverse from the top up. At the moment, it's all white owners. And there's a real lack of diversity from the top down. It's all male, and that needs to change. That was just my thought."
Hamilton also underlined that he trusts the FIA to make the right decision at the end of the day. "But I really do have 100% faith in Stefano [Domenicali], who I've known for a long, long time. I think what he's doing at the top, there's no one that could do a better job than him. And I know that he will make the right decision moving forward. He's a racer, and he's passionate about the growth of the sport. So I'm happy to leave it in his capable hands."