Hamilton hails first black woman to stand on an F1 podium

Lewis Hamilton has honoured the first black woman to stand on a Formula 1 podium as he continues with his cause to promote greater diversity in motorsport.

While F1's splintered reaction to taking a knee prior to the start of Sunday's Styrian Grand Prix garnered attention, what may have been overlooked following Hamilton's victory was who joined him in the podium ceremony from the Mercedes team.

As is customary in F1, the winning constructor always sends up one of its team members to collect the trophy. Mercedes has made it a habit over the years to spread such an honour amongst a wide array of its staff.

On Sunday, Mercedes handed the privilege to Petronas trackside engineer Stephanie Travers.

Via an Instagram message, Hamilton said: "I wanted to post this because it’s such an important moment.

"This is Stephanie who is one of my teammates. She is one of our trackside fluid engineers. On Sunday, she became the first black woman to stand on the podium in Formula 1 history.

"This is an amazing achievement and I just wanted to acknowledge her for her hard work, positivity, and passion for her job.

"Like most of the jobs in our sport they are in high demand, and Stephanie was selected out of over 7000 applicants for her role.

"Steph said she wants to inspire young black children, and children of colour to believe that they can do it too, and I couldn’t agree more. Put your mind to it, and you can be anything you want to be.

"So whilst I really appreciate all of the congratulations, I wanted [to] take the opportunity to lift her up, and share them with her. #manifest #hardwork #bethechange."

Hamilton recently launched his own Commission in a bid to bring about greater throughout motorsport.

View this post on Instagram

I wanted to post this because it’s such an important moment. This is Stephanie who is one of my teammates. She is one of our trackside fluid engineers. On Sunday, she became the first black woman to stand on the podium in Formula 1 history. This is an amazing achievement and I just wanted to acknowledge her for her hard work, positivity, and passion for her job. Like most of the jobs in our sport they are in high demand, and Stephanie was selected out of over 7000 applicants for her role. Steph said she wants to inspire young black children, and children of colour to believe that they can do it too, and I couldn’t agree more. Put your mind to it, and you can be anything you want to be. So whilst I really appreciate all of the congratulations, I wanted take the opportunity to lift her up, and share them with her. #manifest #hardwork #bethechange

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) on Jul 13, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT

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