In the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement, a sense of frustration took over Lewis Hamilton. The frustration stemmed from the inaction on F1’s part in promoting diversity. Ultimately, Hamilton decided to take matters into his own hands by launching Mission 44. The initiative aimed at increasing the representation of members of the black community.
Mission 44’s CEO Jason Arthur, in a recent episode of the Track Limits podcast, said, “I think a level of frustration had built up by the time it got to 2020-2021 that there hadn’t been enough progress.” Arthur recalled the Hamilton Commission’s findings which reported abysmal participation (1%) of people of black heritage in motorsport in the UK.
Speaking about the hurdles, he further revealed, “They relate to how people perceive black young people. It relates to career pathways and STEM, let alone motorsport. So, you end up looking at very complicated issues. So, for Lewis, it was, ‘how can I do something practical about it’, which is why I set up Mission 44 and he’s put 20 million [GBP, $25 million] behind it, which is incredible.”
The iconic step garnered support in the field all the way from Hamilton’s team, Mercedes, to F1 broadcaster Sky Sports. Sky F1 made a contribution of 1 million GBP ($1.25 million) in January 2022.
Mercedes, on the other hand, launched Ignite, an initiative to work closely with Mission 44. The joint efforts were to streamline the inclusivity of members of the minority community into STEM fields and motorsport in the UK.
Ferrari vows to promote Lewis Hamilton’s Mission 44
Ferrari offered Lewis Hamilton everything that Mercedes could not to make him switch. Among those was an eye-watering $100 million yearly salary.
Another crucial factor that made the Briton switch to the Maranello side was the ambassadorial role after retiring from driving duties. That was one of the conditions that Mercedes refused to offer to Hamilton when renewing his contract for the 2024 season in 2023.
There is, however, another factor that contributed to the seven-time champion signing on the dotted line. That was John Elkann’s commitment to initiate a trust fund to make contributions to Hamilton’s non-profit initiatives.
Congratulations to the five awardees from the #MScMotorsport Scholarship Programme who have just begun mentorships with engineers from @AstonMartinF1. The success of this programme, supported by @mission44 and @MercedesAMGF1, is evident and we’re so excited to see where this… pic.twitter.com/8Hsueumn2G
— Royal Academy of Engineering (@RAEngNews) May 9, 2024
As per Vincenzo Landino, that amount equates to a whopping $400 million. As per Mission 44’s official website, the initiative has helped 15,000 young people progress to higher education.
Through their initiative Girls on Track and Race for Diversity programs, 2,254 people have made significant strides in motorsport. They have collaborated with 5,000 schools to help them achieve a Primary Science Quality Mark, which helped in creating a foundation for science education for 1,000,000 children.
