Lewis Hamilton says he will take a backseat role at Chelsea Football Club, should Sir Martin Broughton's attempt to acquire the club prove to be successful, with a view to getting "more and more" involved over time. Hamilton has described the prospect of owning a stake in the Champions League winners as "very exciting", with his sights set on turning Chelsea into a profit-making, trophy-winning club. The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion has also spoken of his desire to use Chelsea to help football become "more diverse and more inclusive", continuing the work he has already done with the Hamilton Commission and Mission 44. But he has no plans to turn his back on F1 to become a fully-fledged football club owner just yet, he has made clear.
Hamilton has no plans to leave F1 for Chelsea
Should Broughton's attempt to purchase Chelsea prove successful, Hamilton says he will not be a leading figure, with his role at the club likely to build steadily. "Well, at the moment, my primary focus is continuing in Formula 1, and this isn't my first business venture or investment," explained Hamilton, speaking to select members of the media, including RacingNews365.com . "It's something that I'm excited about. I would say early on, for sure, I'm not going to be able to be as hands-on as the other people that are a part of it. "We haven't won it yet, but if we do, there are lots of opportunities to get involved more and more over time, which is super exciting, and particularly beyond racing, of wanting to help with the success they've already had and help it be even more successful. "The consortium is a consortium of lifetime Chelsea fans and others that have come to it later, like myself. "There's not anyone that's a part of it, that's with the mindset of losing. I think Chelsea already has a winning mindset, but I think we can do better with how we move it forward."
Hamilton: We aim to make Chelsea a profit-making organisation
The popular quip goes: the fastest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and buy a sports team, as is the loss-making nature of such a venture, especially in football. The 20 Premier League clubs reported a combined pre-tax loss of close to £1 billion during the 2019-20 season, according to Deloitte . "Yeah, I mean naturally, that's never the idea of an investment," said Hamilton, who plans to help buck that trend, should he become involved at Chelsea. "Through the discussions that we've had on how the [consortium] plan to manage this team moving forward and improve that, and make sure that they slowly decrease those losses and turn it into a profit-making organisation – that's gonna take a little work. "There are so many moving parts, naturally, and I don't have the strategy to all that as we haven't yet won the bid. I'm sure that will come afterwards."
Chelsea an "amazing platform" to educate on diversity and inclusion
Another one of Hamilton's big goals in his pursuit of a stake in Chelsea is his plan to continue the work he has already done to improve diversity and inclusion in sport. The Mercedes driver has already established the Hamilton Commission, which looks to address the underrepresentation of Black people in UK motorsport, and Mission44, a foundation launched to support, champion and empower young people from underrepresented groups. "The part that we're very aligned in is D&I (diversity and inclusion), for example, and what they've already done there," he continued. "You've seen that, in that sport (football), there is still a lot of work to be done on being more diverse and more inclusive. It's an amazing platform to bring in and educate a lot of the amazing fans that are out there. "There's some amazing talent within the team already that have already stood up against discrimination and worked very closely with the organisation to move forward. "I know that's really important for, I think, the fans of Chelsea. The community is heavily invested in that, also, so I think it's important."
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