Austrian Grand Prix – Mercedes AMG have announced they will run a black-based livery on their W11 this year, in support of diversity.
Mercedes have opted to change from their usual silver livery to a black theme for 2020, in support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement worldwide.
It’s the first time in the team’s contemporary decade-long history that they’ve opted for a full switch away from a silver livery. At last year’s German Grand Prix, the team ran a white-based livery.
With World Champion Lewis Hamilton being extremely vocal on social media about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, and former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone getting himself in hot water with some comments last week, Mercedes have opted for a very public display of support for the movement.
The W11 will race will a prominently black livery in 2020, with a call to ‘End Racism’ featuring on the car’s halo. The united F1 initiative #WeRaceAsOne will be featured on the mirrors.
“When Formula One returns to racing this weekend in Austria, it will do so in a world that has changed profoundly since the teams last gathered in Melbourne in early March.” said Mercedes. “Our sport’s united response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, in the form of Project Pitlane, showcased the very best capability that Formula One has to offer.”
“However, in the past five weeks, the Black Lives Matter movement has shone a searching light on how much we need new measures and actions in the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination. As a team, we have used the past weeks to listen to the perspectives of our team members, to learn and to reflect on our team as it is today and how we want it to be in the future.” continued Mercedes.
The team explained that just 3% of its entire workforce belong to ethnic minority groups, with a fresh focus now being put on how to improve that percentage:
“We are proud of our culture and our values. We prize the contribution of every individual, and our team members tell us that the experience within our team is an inclusive one. But in our organisation, just three per cent of our workforce identify as belonging to minority ethnic groups and only 12% of our employees are women. This lack of diversity shows that we need to find new approaches to attract talent from many areas of society we do not currently reach. We know that our team will be stronger if we can attract talents from the broadest possible pool and we are committed to achieving this through positive action.”
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