Hamilton with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team principal Toto Wolff .
PARIS: Seven-time world champion Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and his team Mercedes said on Tuesday they had launched a diversity drive called "Ignite".
The focus of effort for the UK-focused initiative will include but not be limited to: developing exciting and stimulating STEM curriculum materials; developing more diverse educators to role model and inspire students from under-represented groups in STEM; enhancing education enrichment opportunities around STEM and motorsport; and providing financial support to talented and motivated students wishing to pursue careers in STEM and motorsport but who don’t have the means.
The move complements the F1 team's ""Accelerate 25" campaign, which is to have 25 per cent of new starters in their team to come from under-represented groups until the end of 2025.
Hamilton has been a vocal activist for the "Back Lives Matter" movement and is behind the eponymous Hamilton commission that did the background study to establish the aims of Accelerate 25.
"Mercedes have long supported my ambition to improve diversity and inclusion within the motorsport industry," said Hamilton.
"Diverse workforces are not only more successful but are also the morally correct approach for any industry," Hamilton said.
"For 15 years, I have remained one of the few black employees within Formula 1, and I am proud that my work with Mercedes is going to change that for the better."
The 36-year-old driver launched the Hamilton commission with the Royal Academy of Engineering last June with the aim of making motorsport "as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in".
