Alpine Academy driver Sophie Floersch recently received a lot of backlash after criticizing Lewis Hamilton for not contributing to charities that promote diversity.

This comment was made after Hamilton picked Kenzo Craigie and Doriane Pin as his drivers if he planned to create a new F1 team.

Motorsport.com’s official X account recently posted that Lewis Hamilton would choose two drivers from different cultures for his F1 team if he ever forms it one day. He picked Craigie, who was a British junior driver in Mercedes, and Pin, who was also a Mercedes junior driver, competing in F1 Academy with Prema Racing.

“Kenzo and Doriane, she’s a badass. If I was to make a team…maybe one day I will, it will be diverse from the beginning,” Hamilton said. (via Motorsport.com)
In response to this, Sophie Floersch, who recently competed in the F3 Championship, said that Lewis Hamilton should contribute money to promote diversity. She used the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’ to express this.

“Put your money where your mouth is!” Floersch wrote.
Hundreds of F1 fans flocked to the Alpine Academy driver’s reply and criticized her for not knowing how much the seven-time F1 world champion has already donated to such causes. They talked about how she could have googled it and that it was quite embarrassing for her.

“A small google search would’ve saved you from this idiocy,” one fan wrote.
“This is just humiliating for you,” another added.
“Hamilton’s the one guy who you can’t say this to ffs he has a whole charity dedicated to uplifting people from diverse backgrounds and women in motorsport,” someone explained.
One fan simply wrote that Sophie Floersch will not be hired by Lewis Hamilton for his F1 team after she made the comment.

“Yeah you definitely aren’t getting signed,” one follower joked.
Summary of Lewis Hamilton’s contributions and movements to promote diversity
Lewis Hamilton has always been a strong voice in F1, promoting diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism movements. In 2020, he founded The Hamilton Commission, which was a research-focused program to address barriers faced by people of color in motorsport. He invested quite a lot in starting this initiative and helping people from various cultures to work in motorsports.

In 2021, the Mercedes star launched Mission 44, a charitable foundation that aims to uplift youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds. He pledged £20,000,000 during the launch and has continued to invest in the movement. Mission 44 also collaborates with the Hamilton Commission.

In 2022, it was also reported that he donated around €23,000,000 to various charities. Since Hamilton’s net worth is around $300,000,000, it means that he was giving away around six to seven percent of his total assets.

Apart from these massive donations, he has contributed in several ways to promote diversity in motorsport and the rest of the world.

Edited by Tushhita Barua