Lewis Hamilton reminisces about Ralf Schumacher criticizing the Mercedes driver's inclusion efforts as he comes out as gay

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton recalled that former German driver Ralf Schumacher was critical of the former's inclusivity efforts some years ago. Schumacher, a six-time race winner, came out as gay on social media, which has come as a surprise to many people, posting a picture with his partner Etienne.

The former Williams F1 driver-turned-pundit has received a lot of positive messages for coming out of the closet and sharing his relationship on social media. While Hamilton has also praised Schumacher for coming out, while speaking to BBC he shared what he said was the German's previous stance on inclusivity.

Hamilton said that during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he and former world champion Sebastian Vettel were championing equality and inclusivity in the paddock, especially at venues where they felt it was needed most, but received an unenthusiastic response from Schumacher at the time. He said:

"That's all started from Seb and I standing on the grid here and fighting against what the government was doing here. And in Saudi and Qatar, I remember Ralf said it wasn't a good idea to do those things. Perhaps today he may have shifted his mind."

The Brit added that he thinks Schumacher coming out and "even him taking that step sends such a positive message and liberates others to be able to do the same. We need more and more people to be free to do that".

Lewis Hamilton lends his support to Ralf Schumacher after the latter came out as gay

Lewis Hamilton stated that Ralf Schumacher may have felt more comfortable speaking about his sexuality and relationship more openly now as compared to the past, as part of the F1 world.

As quoted by the BBC, the seven-time world champion said:

"Clearly he has not felt comfortable being able to say it in the past. It is definitely not a new thing. But it shows that we are in a time finally when we can take that step and don't have to fear. And hopefully, he will be able to say that he's, I think, so far had only positive feedback from people [in F1] and that's because of the time we're living in and the changes we are."

However, the Mercedes driver emphasized that he thinks the sport needed to do more as it remains a male-dominated environment and the people in it have to start making people feel comfortable, adding:

"It is one thing saying it’s inclusive and it’s another actually making sure people feel comfortable in the environments. This is a male-dominated space and as far as I know, he is one of the first to at least publicly be speaking in that respect."

Schumacher was previously married to Cora Brinkmann from 2001 to 2015 and the two have a son from their marriage, David, a former F3 driver who reportedly lives in Salzburg with his father while currently competing in the ADAC-GT Masters.