"Not really fitting in a sport which was white-dominated" - Lewis Hamilton looks back at the obstacles he had to overcome as an F1 driver

Lewis Hamilton recently said that fitting in a 'white-dominated sport' was an obstacle for him in his early racing years.

The Mercedes driver has reportedly overcome several challenges in his career, such as lack of funding and racism. The seven-time world champion remains the only F1 driver of color till now.

In a video uploaded by GQ Sports, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the obstacles that he has faced thus far, with 'funding' being one of them. He also delved deep into struggles of not 'fitting in.'

"Not really fitting in a sport which was white-dominated and wasn't an area that was diverse," Hamilton said. "We were the only black family on the scene so experienced a lot of racism and a lot of pushback. So just trying to fit in and struggling with that acceptance was a big obstacle to overcome."

In his interview with GQ, Lewis Hamilton also spoke about facing the ire of the people inside the sport for his off-track interests, as they did not align with the idea of an F1 racer.

“People just judging me: ‘This is not how a racing driver behaves.’ ‘This is not what a racing driver does.’ Bit by bit, I’ve had to work overtime to outperform,” he added.

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Former F1 driver chimes in on Lewis Hamilton's 'money move' to Ferrari in 2025

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher recently stated that Lewis Hamilton made the move to Ferrari for the 2025 season for the money and the brand of the Italian team.

Speaking with Sport1, the German said (via PlanetF1):

"I can understand Lewis: He wanted to earn real money again and drive for a brand that has so much appeal that he can still use it after his active career.”

Hamilton will leave the German team at the end of the 2024 season to join the Scuderia and partner Charles Leclerc.

Despite Schumacher's claims of the move being 'money based,' the British driver had earlier stated that he wanted a fresh start to the final phase of his career after 12 years with Mercedes.

Hamilton spoke about his 'fulfilling his dream' of racing in the red car and having an opportunity to go for his record-breaking eighth world championship.