Lewis Hamilton has been called out for a lack of personal action despite criticising a lack of support for young drivers at a grassroots level.
Over the past year, the six-time Formula 1 champion has slammed a lack of diversity in motorsport on multiple levels, whether it be race, gender or class, suggesting only kids of rich families are reaching the top.
However, Formula E driver Oliver Rowland is one of those trying to offer an opportunity to those who deserve it and more importantly, those who need it.
“I know first-hand how much it costs to run a karting team,” he told the Inside Electric podcast.
“People say you should get rid of teams because they bring out more costs, but then at the same time, as a team we provide a package for the driver to develop much quicker than if he was on his own.
“Especially in Britain we have really good grassroots karting and they tend to get really good really quickly. So it’s very difficult.”
Rowland also noted that while he does go as far as financing young drivers, Hamilton could simply do more through name attraction.
“I myself sponsor, or I’ve helped pay for a couple of drivers, or I’ve helped in certain ways that I can,” he said.
“I’m not on the same level as the top F1 guys, but I put my hand in my pocket to help people who I think deserve it and probably couldn’t go to the next level without that help.
“I notice that the people saying it in the press and things like that, maybe they could do the same.
“It pisses me off a little bit sometimes when I hear people complaining about it, but then actually they’re not really doing much themselves. For example, Lewis said a couple of months ago that people need motorsport grassroots and all this sort of stuff.
“Even if he was to put his name against three or four drivers that were doing exceptionally well, that would help draw in sponsorship for them and that wouldn’t actually cost him anything. But it would just be a way for them to then generate a bit of sponsorship for themselves.
“Just to have him backing somebody, he could go to sponsors, he could even go to meetings with them. He’d generate a 100k karting budget very quickly. Whereas without him it’s really difficult for anybody to get anything.”
Hamilton has previously suggested he wants to work with the FIA to take broader action on the subject, but now thanks to Rowland, the ball is very much in the Briton’s court.
