The 25-year-old, Aidan Louw, who has worked on Sebastian Vettel’s AMR-22, has revealed facing racism at Aston Martin.
Sebastian Vettel has been a proponent of diversity in motorsports. The German driver has taken a stance against racism and discrimination in motorsports.
But in his own team, the 25-year-old Aidan Louw has faced racism. He was also subject to homophobia from his co-workers. Aidan is a mixed-race individual and was born in South Africa.
He worked as a laminator of the cars driven by Sebastian Vettel at the Aston Martin base in Silverstone. He joined the team in February and noticed the name-calling immediately. It affected him to the extent that Aidan was regularly late to work.
Aidan said in an interview with Sky Sports, “It went from brownie to darkie. I wasn’t referred to as Aidy or anything like that. I was called n** n** and brownie. That is what I was referred to. It was towards the end of the duration that I had finally processed what was happening.”
More needs to be done to address racism in motorsport, according to a Formula 1 employee who experienced repeated use of the n-word by coworkers at the Aston Martin F1 team.
Read the full exclusive interview: https://t.co/T0Orz4fMY2 pic.twitter.com/dgOH16AtDc
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 15, 2022
Aston Martin fired Aidan due to “poor performance and poor timekeeping.” He accepted his impunctuality at the office. Now, Aston Martin Racing released a statement to Sky following the abuse subjected to Aidan.
“AMR and its supplier operate a zero-tolerance policy with regard to racism, homophobia and all types of discrimination. We deal with any allegations of this unacceptable behaviour seriously.”
Also Read: F1 Twitter lashes at Max Verstappen fans for harassing people at the Red Bull Ring
Sebastian Vettel takes a stand against racism in F1
Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and a number of F1 drivers recently raised their voices. A certain group of fans who attended the Austrian GP had made racist, sexist and homophobic abuse. Women reported incidents of catcalling and harassment as well.
Vettel has condemned the actions of these fans. He said, “They should be ashamed of themselves. And they should be banned from racing events for their lives.”
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 10, 2022
Recently, Nelson Piquet, a three-time Formula One champion referred to Lewis Hamilton using a racist slur. Piquet faced widespread condemnation from the F1 community and fans.
Also Read: Nelson Piquet thinks criticism on his Lewis Hamilton comments are irrelevant
