Lewis Hamilton has made it “a priority” to improve diversity at Ferrari ahead of his arrival from Mercedes in F1 2025, claiming the Scuderia have “a lot of work to do” in that area.
Hamilton announced earlier this month that he will leave Mercedes at the end of 2024, bringing an end to the most successful team-driver partnership in F1 history.
The British driver has won six of his seven World Championships with Mercedes, as well as becoming the first driver to claim more than 100 pole positions and race victories, since arriving from McLaren at the beginning of 2013.
Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari have ‘a lot of work to do’Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Hamilton’s relationship with Mercedes has extended far beyond the race track, with the pair embarking on a number of social initiatives over recent years.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com during pre-season testing in Bahrain, Hamilton has revealed it is something he is keen to replicate with Ferrari after positive talks with chairman John Elkann and Stefano Domenicali, the F1 chief executive.
He said: “I’m immensely proud of the work that we’ve done within Mercedes.
“Since 2020, we’ve made some real great strides in improving the diversity within the team.
“For example, within HR, we’ve got a diverse HR group and that will continue beyond me, which is something I’m really proud of and I’m proud of the team for pushing so far ahead.
“I think we are ahead of every other team in that respect and there still is a huge amount of work within the whole sport, which I’m speaking [about] to Stefano constantly.
“I’m looking to work more with Formula 1 and, of course, you look at Ferrari [and] they have a lot of work to do.
“I’ve already made that a priority in speaking with John and they’re super excited to get on and work on it also.”
Hamilton also confirmed he will make an attempt to learn Italian ahead of his switch to Maranello, but insisted his career with Mercedes is not yet over as he aims to end “on a high” in 2024.
Asked about the prospect of learning Italian, he said: “In all these years, I’ve not managed to learn any other languages, but of course I will definitely try.
“I do remember when I was karting in Italy and I was able to pick up a few lines, so hopefully that will come back to me pretty quickly.
“But this chapter is still not finished, I’m still 100 per cent focused on delivering for this team this year and trying to finish on a high.
“That’s a big, big goal for me and the team and I have absolute faith in everything, everyone in the team and what we’ve done so far I think is great.
“So I really hope that we are somehow able to close the gaps to the Red Bulls.”
Hamilton will be aiming to end a third straight winless season in 2024, with his last victory coming at the penultimate round of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia – seven days before he was dethroned in highly controversial circumstances by Max Verstappen at the infamous title decider in Abu Dhabi.
