Wolff: Teams should be role models

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff called on fellow Formula 1 players to actually support the fight against racism.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton created a personal Mission 44 base and launched the Ignite initiative with Mercedes. In Mission 44, Lewis contributed £20 million of his own money, and Ignite has set up a multimillion-dollar fund between Hamilton and the Mercedes team as a result of his negotiations with Wolf for a new contract for 2021.

On the Thursday before the British Grand Prix, Mercedes and Hamilton announced the first recipients of Ignite grants – half a million pounds going towards initiatives to increase women’s participation in mainstream motorsport and grants for black engineering students who decide to dedicate themselves to motorsport.

Toto Wolff: “Many say they support our initiatives, but those are often empty words, and we trade and invest. And I’m very proud of it. But now we have to get everyone else involved – we won’t be able to solve this problem alone.

Everyone can contribute. Our sport makes billions of dollars, brings hundreds of millions to each of the teams. Formula 1 drivers are millionaires.

Teams should be role models, demonstrating their activity through action, not generic phrases. It’s great when people say, “We’re working on this, and yes, we’re against discrimination and racism,” but something really meaningful needs to be done. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything from other teams so far, other than posts on social networks.