Lewis Hamilton says it would be impossible for someone like him to break into Formula 1 now, because the sport is a 'billionaire boys' club'
- Lewis Hamilton says Formula One has become a "billionaire boys' club."
- He also says breaking into the sport nowadays from his working class background would be impossible.
- Three current F1 drivers are sons of billionaire businessmen who have invested heavily in the sport.
Lewis Hamilton says Formula One has become a "billionaire boys' club."
The seven-time World Championship winner also said that breaking into the sport nowadays from his working class background would be impossible.
"If I go back to where I started, growing up in a normal working class family, there is no way I could be here - the guys you are fighting against have that much more money," he told Spanish newspaper AS.
Hamilton, 36, was raised on a council estate in Stevenage, England, while his father worked numerous jobs to fund his junior racing career.
He was then picked up by McLaren's now-legendary Young Driver Programme aged 13, which funded the rest of his journey into F1. Other drivers to come through that programme include former F1 stars Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon, and current McLaren driver Lando Norris.
Of the sport's 20 current drivers, three - Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, and Nikita Mazepin - are the sons of billionaires, while Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher are both the sons of former F1 drivers.
"I think for the future we've got to work to change that," Hamilton said ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, the race most often associated with the lavish wealth involved in Formula One.
"To make it more accessible, to people from rich and more normal backgrounds."
Hamilton is already working to improve diversity within motorsport.
In June 2020, he announced the launch of The Hamilton Commission, a research partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering aimed at providing more young Black people with a route into motorsport through subjects such as science, mathematics, and technology.
Hamilton, who leads this season's Driver's Championship having won three of the four Grands Prix so far, says the work of the commission is currently his number one priority.
"The sporting side for me is my life, it's my job," he told AS. "But right now I'd say it's number two. But I wouldn't be able to do the other things without the racing so it's a close second.
"But what's really in my heart right now is that I want to work with people, I want to educate myself more, but I also want to encourage those around me to get more educated.
"It's taking a lot of time, getting on calls with the people running Formula 1, saying to them: 'What are we doing? How can we be more efficient in raising awareness? How can we make sure that the future of Formula 1 and motorsport is more diverse?'
"It's never taking no for an answer. So on the racing side, I still have to be the best and work at being the best, and that requires just as much time, but that's enjoyment, that's fun for me. Racing is what I've wanted to do since I was kid.