On November 9th, Formula 1 race car driver Lewis Hamilton visited Casa Amarela with JR. Located at the top of Morro da Providência in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Casa is an educational, artistic, and social support center founded by JR. Hamilton visited the center as part of his ongoing work to expand representation across the motorsport industry. 

At the Casa, Hamilton was greeted by children from the community who waved checkered race flags and balloons. They sat down together for a discussion of the sport. One little girl asked, “How do you feel having the weight of being the first Black Formula 1 driver?” Hamilton responded, “It is not easy being the first, and the only one. But it’s also an amazing responsibility. I never saw anyone that looked like me in the sport when I was young. But I’m working now to try and make sure there is more diversity, that there are more people that come from different places, that look like us. That is my purpose.” 

He and the children then gathered outside for a soapbox race. Each child had the chance to sit at the wheel of a small yellow car; for the first time, they experienced how it felt to press the brake and steer the vehicle along the curves of the road. The children, one accompanied by Hamilton, then raced down the hill, whizzing through the community as a blur of yellow.