LEWIS HAMILTON admits Italian racists made him think twice about moving from Mercedes to Ferrari.
Italian football has been plagued with racism problems, with ex-Chelsea star Romelu Lukaku suffering sick monkey taunts while playing for Inter Milan and Roma.
AlamyLewis Hamilton has admitted he thought twice about joining Ferrari[/caption]
AFPThe 40-year-old has expressed concerns over Ferrari’s lack of diversity[/caption]
And Hamilton, F1’s only black driver, confessed: “It definitely crossed my mind when I was thinking about my decision.
“It’s often such a small group of people that set that trend for many.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
Hamilton, 40, was racially abused during his days in karting and also targeted by Spanish bigots in 2008.
But now he has been fired up by F1 pundits attacking his name, like former team owner Eddie Jordan, who branded Ferrari’s decision to axe 30-year-old Carlos Sainz for the Brit as “suicidal”.
Hamilton told Time Magazine: “I never reply to any of the older, ultimately white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing.
“How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.”
But Hamilton has expressed concerns over Ferrari’s lack of diversity.
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In 2020, he started the Hamilton Commission to increase black representation in UK motorsport.
Mercedes launched their own diversity initiative and began hiring staff from under-represented groups.
But Hamilton said: “Now I’m going back to the beginning of my time with Mercedes, where it wasn’t diverse.”
Ferrari, along with every other F1 team, signed a Diversity and Inclusion charter in November.
Yet boss Fred Vasseur said: “It’s not politically correct but first is performance.
“I’m keen to go into the direction of diversity and so on but I want to build up the best team.”
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