Formula One announces partnership with Hamilton's Mission 44 charity

Ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, Formula One has announced that it will support Mission 44, the charity founded in 2021 by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton founded Mission 44 in 2021 with the aim of achieving greater representation, diversity, and inclusion in motorsport to create meaningful change for young people facing social injustice through education, empowerment, and employment opportunities.

Over the past three years, Formula 1 has worked closely with Mission 44 to address some of the challenges surrounding diversity and inclusion in the sport, supporting the charity in facilitating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for students from underrepresented groups and underserved communities to inspire them to consider careers in STEM and motorsport.

Last year, Mission 44 and Formula 1 delivered outreach programmes in Austin, Silverstone, and São Paulo, positively impacting more than 150 young people.

F1 has now announced that it will formalise its partnership with Mission 44, targeting to raise awareness of their work and connect the charity with organisations across motorsport to identify apprenticeships and similar opportunities for young people from underrepresented groups.

At this weekend’s British Grand Prix, F1 and Mission 44 has hosted a first of its kind networking event which brought together scholars from the Formula 1 Engineering and Mission 44 MSc Motorsport Engineering scholarship programmes to knowledge share and help with the students’ professional development.

Both schemes offer students crucial financial and career support, with the objective to increase opportunities in motorsport for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Commenting on the announcement, Ellen Jones, Head of ESG at Formula 1 said: “Over the last few years, it has been a pleasure to support Mission 44 in its efforts to make our sport more diverse and give students and young people their first taste of the world of F1 and motorsport.

“We look forward to working with Mission 44 in this new capacity and seeing how many doors we can open together to inspire the next generation.”

Expanding on the announcment, Jason Arthur, CEO of Mission 44 noted: “When Lewis Hamilton launched Mission 44 three years ago, it was with the ambition to create a fairer, more inclusive future for young people around the world.

"Together with Formula 1, we will be able to increase awareness and access to motorsport career opportunities, so young people, no matter their background, can succeed. Change requires collective action, and we’re excited to grow our partnership with Formula 1 to drive diversity in motorsport forward.”