Lewis Hamilton has said he doesn’t care if he doesn’t win another race as long as he uses his platform to speak out.
The 38-year-old Formula One champion appeared on The Fast and the Curious podcast with Christian Hewgill, where Christian praised the athlete for standing up for LGBT rights.
Lewis responded by detailing how he felt “responsible” to speak out on issues to transform society.
Christian enthused: “You paved the way in Formula 1 to talk about certain topics that weren’t talked about before.
“A small example. F1 fanatic. I am a sports broadcaster. i’m gay too When I was a kid, I struggled with coming out in the world of sports.
Responsibility: Lewis Hamilton has said he doesn’t care if he doesn’t win another race as long as he uses his platform to speak out
“They went to Hungary in 2021 and campaigned for LGBT rights. I wanted to say thank you It means the world. It makes such a difference.
“What made you decide to do that? Because certainly not all top athletes like you.’
Lewis replied: “Well, thanks. And personally I want to commend you. It’s a challenging journey, isn’t it?’
“For me…I always say that we need more empathy and compassion in the world.
“We are all human and there are all these things that challenge people in different countries through governments, people with opinions, social media and all these different things.
“We have this platform and I just feel very responsible. I’m not just a Formula 1 driver and I can’t just have success and just live my life.
“This is a platform to initiate change and stimulate conversation. Sparking those awkward conversations and then holding accountable people who have historically been comfortable with the status quo that has held people down and made them feel uninvolved.
He continued: “This frustrates me. We can make change and I want to help make people feel more included. Our sport, motorsport or any sport or business should not be able to continue to be non-diverse.
“There are so many different things that we need to challenge and fix. We also go to a lot of countries that have these challenging human rights issues where people just aren’t treated as people. And in the past, people just walked past it.
He insisted: “It’s so important that someone speaks out on this. I don’t care if I don’t win another race – I’m going to talk about these things and whether people like it or not.
Reflecting on the chat after the interview, Christian said: “I’m actually a bit emotional – more than I thought I would be.
“I didn’t think I would dare to talk about my sexuality in the world of sport. And for Sir Lewis Hamilton to commend you on your journey…I didn’t really know what to say to that. That’s crazy.
“It makes a difference. There are people who say sport and politics shouldn’t mix and all that crap. But Lewis summed it up simply that sometimes it’s not about politics, it’s about people’s lives. And it’s about people being able to be who they are.
“I probably haven’t come out for four or five years after probably suspecting I was gay for the first time. And a big part of that was because I was involved in motorsport.
“I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I hadn’t told him. It means the absolute world that he reacted the way he did.
Speaking of which, the 38-year-old Formula One champion appeared on The Fast and the Curious podcast with Christian Hewgill, where Christian praised the athlete for standing up for LGBT rights.
Platform: Lewis responded by detailing how he feels “responsible” to speak out on issues to transform society
“It’s very easy for people to look at it and say, well, it’s just sport. It makes no difference. It does.
“And I hope if there are female engineers who want to go into F1, drivers, disabled, gay, whatever, black, white, you can do whatever you want. You can be whoever you want to be.
“And it’s people like Lewis Hamilton that will make people realize that. If I had realized 15 years ago, you can be a game, you can be a sportswriter.
“I might have saved some money for therapy and his speaking up means the world.”