Bubba Wallace Had F1 Titan Lewis Hamilton in ‘Real Shock’ With Major Compliment

The world of motorsport has a huge audience and provides a global platform to its athletes. Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton and NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, have made the most of their opportunities racing in the top leagues.

The Briton is currently the only Black driver racing in the premier class of motorsport. He is arguably the most accomplished driver in the sport’s history and is outspoken about the causes he believes in. During the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, Hamilton led from the front in the paddock and ensured to make a statement to show his support against racism.

Furthermore, he launched the ‘Ignite’ joint charitable initiative with Mercedes to support greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport. Along the same lines, Bubba Wallace is currently the only full-time Black driver in NASCAR. Just like Hamilton, the American is vocal and has made a mark in the racing world.

Notably, Wallace ran a special Black Lives Matter paint scheme at Martinsville Speedway to promote racial equality. For his article in Time 100 magazine, he had a special message for the F1 multi-time champion. The Brit in his interview with TIME shared his response to the remarks of his racing peer.

The interviewer asked “American racecar driver, Bubba Wallace in his tribute to you for time 100 mentioned that 7 is a magic number in racing. In NASCAR, Richard Petty, Jimmy Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. have all won seven championships. How important is it to you to win eight or more championships, and set a new standard for excellence in auto-racing?”

Hamilton replied, “Well firstly it was a real shock to and surprise, pleasant surprise to hear that um, that Bubba had been so kind to write something nice about me and I think Bubba’s been so inspirational in what he’s gone though, how brave he’s been and um he and I have connected this year and support each other from afar we you know every now and then we, we game on our weekends off together which is kind of cool.”

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“I feel like a sense of responsibility being you know being that I am only black driver here in my sport and unfortunately you know there’s not another uh black driver coming up there’s it’s not a diverse sport at all and so I feel I have a feel like I have a responsibility firstly to utilize a platform to really push for change within the sport.”

“And when calling out and pushing for change it’s not just for drivers it’s even more so in the background with all the team which have thousand of people working in them which are not diverse and um so on the journey to get the seventh, of course, one at a time, uh I do plan to continue hopefully and if I get the opportunity I will be pushing for more.”

“But, Honestly, I don’t know how long I will be around, so we just have to wait and see” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton the F1 Activist

The 37-year-old has always stood out in the paddock. From the get-go, he delivered exceptional results and announced himself as a contender for the next F1 megastar. On the track, he has never backed away from a challenge and lets his driving do the talking. Similarly, off the track, he doesn’t shy away from raising his voice against the social evils.

In 2020, he sported the Black Lives Matter t-shirt on multiple occasions.

Recently, he was the target of racial remarks by the former world champion, Nelson Piquet. In an interview, the Brazilian used the slur for the seven-time champion which got him banned from the F1 paddock. Hamilton demanded action against such remarks.

He said “It’s more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”

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Hamilton keeps on battling against social injustice while also having his eyes set on the record-breaking 8th world title. Which quality of the British racing driver impresses you the most? Let us know.