Hamilton: 'They believe people like me don't belong in the sport'

Lewis Hamilton already made himself heard on social media after the controversy around Nelson Piquet's discriminatory remark last week, but the Briton also talks extensively about racism in the sport at Silverstone. According to Hamilton, much more needs to be done to tackle the problem.

After an older video surfaced last week of Piquet using a Portuguese variant of the N-word about Hamilton, Formula 1 teams have come together on social media to stand up against racism and discrimination. According to the seven-time world champion, however, those words are not enough. The Brit would like to see more action.

"It’s now a knee-jerk reaction really from companies all around the world, and when something like this happens you gotta imagine that everyone’s PR have a script ready for something like that, crisis management. It’s not enough now. It’s about actual real action. We’ve got to start acting, and as I said, it just comes down to Formula One, to the media", Hamilton says the press conference before the British Grand Prix.

Juri Vips has been sacked by Red Bull Racing as test and reserve driver after using the N-word during a twitch stream. Piquet is unlikely to be welcome in the F1 paddock from now on. "We should not be giving these people a platform, these old voices, whether they are subconsciously or consciously doing that. They don’t believe that people like me should be in the sport, it’s discrimination. We need to be bringing people together, we are all the same. I’m still standing strong and I’m focused on my work and really trying to push for diversity inclusion in our organisation. We really need everyone."