Hamilton: Vettel heard “racism people said about me within the teams”

Hamilton has found Vettel as a key ally in his battle against racism and discrimination.

“He (Seb) spoke about some of the things he heard whilst in other teams - the racism that people said about me within the teams,” Hamilton was quoted by Marca.

“He knelt down with me in 2020, I have not yet seen a driver as brave as him.

“The laws must be changed so that people live better. We are risking our lives to try to educate others.

"We have to get people to empathise, we need empathy. 

“Sometimes I wonder, does nobody else care? Sebastian was one of those who supported me the most.”

Vettel retired from F1 as a four-time champion at the end of last season.

In the latter part of his career he became vocal about environmental issues.

Hamilton, meanwhile, has long been an advocate for equal rights.

Hamilton said: "I don't know what my next project will be.

“Animal protection laws have to continue to be reviewed, with the environment. It's hard for people to see the disasters that happen.

"I have Mission 44, a project that I launched in London and I want to expand it to Africa and the US, with which we want to instil in children that they can have a good future, that they can become engineers or whatever they want."

Hamilton returns this weekend for the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix.