Natalie Pinkham criticizes Formula 1 for not having any diversity, claims it to be dominated by white men

Natalie Pinkham the Skysports presenter has criticized Formula 1 for not having enough women and people of colour in the sport.

Natalie Pinkham has achieved a new career-high and recorded history as she became the first-ever female anchor of Sky’s F1 coverage, starting from the current Spanish Grand Prix.

Though even after completing 70 years of F1 World Championship and many years of broadcast coverage, this development speaks a lot in negative about the dominance of one group in the sport.

Following on same lines, Pinkham also agrees and in an interview with the Telegraph, the 41-year-old presenter claimed that she is disappointed by the lack of diversity in Formula 1 in 2020, claims there are 88 percent male and 91 percent white in the sport.

“We are still a sport that’s 88 per cent male and 91 per cent white, and that is just not acceptable in 2020. When you look at our fanbase, it’s 40 per cent women who are watching, so they need more relatable role models, not just in terms of presenting but strategists, team principles, aerodynamicists – every element of the sport,” she says.

There was a time when the most prominent women in F1 were only restricted to the grid girls – models employed to look beautiful and not much else. After much dismay, their presence was discontinued in 2018 and on that also Pinkham shed her thoughts.

“At the time there was a massive backlash, including criticism of me for supporting it. But you want girls to watch the sport and not feel they have to look a certain way and stand as inanimate objects in order to get on,” Pinkham says.

“All the time, I craved female company”, and didn’t want to do them out of a job, but instead “to show that there are so many elements women can succeed at.”

“There’s nothing that precludes women from driving the cars, and I firmly believe there will be a female F1 champion in my lifetime.” she further added.

Natalie Pinkham praises Lewis Hamilton’s support for BLM movement

Amid this issue, Pinkham praised Lewis Hamilton’s activism against racism. The only black driver in the history of Formula 1 has been at the forefront to combat the social issue at his workplace.

“He’s doing a great job. I know he’s coming in for criticism, but what he’s doing is seismic. And we’ll look back on this as a watershed moment, and he’ll have been the leader in that. He’ll go down as the best driver ever, but to do that and be principled and make a change? That’s into the echelon of icons.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More