Motor Sports: Racial Discrimination

(asked on 29th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take, alongside sporting bodies and associations, to address racism in motorsport.


Answered by
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Portrait
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 15th July 2022

Racism has no place in society. Her Majesty’s Government is committed to working with our arm’s length bodies, sporting bodies and sector partners to ensure sport does all it can to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.

We were extremely dismayed to hear about the recent racist remarks made about Sir Lewis Hamilton but commend Formula 1’s zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination. Alongside work under Formula 1’s anti-racist platform We Race As One, their swift condemnation of Nelson Piquet’s racist remarks has led to their decision to implement a life-time ban on his attendance at races. In addition, the British Racing Drivers’ Club has suspended Mr Piquet as a member, citing its zero-tolerance policy toward racism and stating it expects formally to terminate his membership at a board meeting to be held within seven days.

Last year we also welcomed the work of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Sir Lewis Hamilton which is aimed at improving the representation of Black people in UK motor sport. However there is still more to do, and we will continue to work across Her Majesty’s Government and with sector partners to ensure that inequalities people from ethnically diverse backgrounds face in sport, including motorsports, are being tackled effectively.

Reticulating Splines