Lewis Hamilton has raised some very poignant questions about the pay gap between men and women and black and white in sport.
His statements were in response to the recently released Forbes list of the 100 highest paid athletes in the world which sadly did not comprise of any female sportsperson.
The Brit feels that the inequality presents a very grave concern for the sporting fraternity worldwide and believes that we still live in ‘stone age’ with respect to our payment structures.
“I’m not aware of the different earnings rates within Formula One,” said Hamilton,
“Bbut that just shows you how behind we are in the world.
“There’s no reason why a woman should not be able to earn more.” he added.
Hamilton was quick to cite the example of his dear friend Serena Williams, who he feels is in the top 3 athletes of all time and deserves to be on that list.
Serena being a black woman has had to face a lot of issues with respect to endorsements, something that here white counterparts haven’t really gone through.
Serena is in the top three of the greatest athletes of all time above a lot of, if not all, the people on that list, so it is a big, big question why,” he said.
“Women rule the world and I don’t understand. It just shows you we are still in the stone age and that needs to change. When will it change? I don’t know.
“Serena has already spoken of how difficult it is. She has been up against Maria Sharapova and she had more results than Maria but Maria – and not just her but other, particularly white players she was playing against – were earning more money than her. Yet her results were higher.
“That’s still the fight we have in society today. It still takes some time to change it.” Hamilton said.
Hamilton(9th) finds a spot on the list, with Vettel(18th) and Alonso(39th) the only other F1 drivers to make it.
What do you think about the wage gap in sport?
