The stars shone brightly in Miami for the city’s inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix race yesterday—Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, Venus and Serena Williams, Karlie Kloss, Bad Bunny, Pharrell, Hailee Steinfeld, and Tom Brady, to name just a few—but for die hard F1 fans (okay, and maybe a few late converts via Netflix’s hit Drive to Survive series), the real action was above the Mercedes AMG Petronas garage. Seven time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and his teammate George Russell, along with the team’s legendary principal, Toto Wolff, visited the Ritz Carlton’s Silver Arrows Lounge after qualifying and before the race itself to discuss team strategy and offer their thoughts on everything from the track layout and conditions (“rubbish” was Russell’s frank opinion of the latter) to the recent difficulties the team has had with their car. (In short After years of dominating Formula 1, Mercedes Petronas has been plagued this season by a new car with a range of technical issues, and Hamilton in particular has found himself in an odd position fighting for middle–of the pack points instead of podium finishes.)
“We’ve come out of the blocks not as we’ve wanted to, but everybody’s working so hard on this car, and I have no doubt that we’ll eventually get there,” Hamilton said. “I’ve never been prouder to be part of a large group of people focused on a common goal.” Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton in Miami.Photo Getty ImagesHamilton—the first Black driver to win a Formula 1 race, in 2008, and still the only Black driver competing at the sport’s highest level—has been, and continues to be, a force for change in both the sport and the world, most recently talking to his 28 million Instagram followers about the leak of the Supreme Court decision on abortion rights. “I love being in the States,” he posted, “but I can’t ignore what’s going on right now and what some in the government are trying to do to the women who live here. Everyone should have the right to choose what they do with their bodies. We can’t let that choice be taken away.” When the governing body overseeing Formula 1 suddenly and recently decreed that drivers would no longer be allowed to wear jewelry when competing, Hamilton showed up to Miami adorned in what looked like his entire jewelry collection. In the Ritz Carlton Silver Arrows Lounge, he stressed the need for the sport—and the vast array of sponsors supporting both his team and Formula 1 in general—to continue to push for greater diversity, more inclusion. (On a lighter note, he also made his love for Miami clear and shocked more than a few people by declaring that he might be buying property in the city “I was out on the water on Wednesday,” he said, “and looked out at the city and just thought, I need to live here.”)
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