Lewis Hamilton said that winning races in Formula 1 does not mean anything unless he does something good with the platform it gives him.
The six-time world champion broke Michael Schumacher’s 92 race win record at the Portuguese Grand Prix, but the sport’s first ever black driver remains fully focused on the causes that are important to him.
Hamilton has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement this season, and has regularly urged his team Mercedes and the sport as a whole to do more to tackle racism and promote diversity.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, the 35-year-old explained that when he is retired, he wants to feel as though he was part of something bigger than himself and F1.
“You want to look back and say I was a part of something much bigger than myself, than my team, than the sport, and I did it with a whole group of people and a lot of force against us, but also a lot of force because there was many of us pushing in the same direction,” the Hamilton told Sky Sports.
In order to take a stand against racism, he and a number of other drivers on the grid have taken a knee before races in a show of solidarity.
Similarly, the drivers have taken to wearing end racism t-shirts on the grid, while Mercedes changed their 2020 livery and race suits in support.
“For me, it was like OK, we’ve got to make this stand, we’ve got to make your voice heard,” Hamilton added.
“Because I’m winning all of these races, but it doesn’t actually mean anything unless you do something with the platform that it then provides you. I think all these years I’ve been… I feel like things happen for a reason in some ways and I think all of us are probably looking for what our purpose is and for me, I’ve been winning these races and succeeding and wondering, what does it all mean?
“What am I going to do with this? And this came round this year and I’m really, really proud, grateful to be a part of the big fight that everyone out there is fighting for.”