Alright when was that again.....?

[Pappa_G_27]

What a ridculous way to sell it. C`mon, how was silver in any way a racist colour? German racing cars were traditionally white, Italian ones red, Bristish ones green and French cars blue (?). That was in the 1920s. Myth has it Mercedes one day scraped off the white to gain a minor weight advantage, so silver it was from then on. Race never even played a role. Isn't this blackfacing in some weird twisted way?

You really don't get it do you?

 

[Salvatore Sirignano]

@Salvatore Sirignano Holding people liable for what has been done by others decades before they were born is stupid. Acting against racism isn't.

I agree 100%! It's absurd but it is what a lot of these kind of protests have morphed into, not being about ending racism, which I am in total agreement with, but dragging up centuries of history and fuelling further political division. It has been completely politicised, and when you bring politics into sport (which shouldn't happen) then you should be consistent in your moral standards. Why does F1 race in Bahrain for example with its appalling human rights record? Why are sports left right and centre taking money from Saudi Arabia in its sportwashing campaign?
What I object to is being told what is right and wrong by people and organisations who are hypocrites looking after their commercial interests and corporate image.

 

[mikeae1]

The Germans always were good at propaganda.

The Time from Germany is long long time ending.

AMG or Mercedes isnt in my opinion German, its international.

A lot of % of the AG owned german families , no !!!

The Germans self dislike more and more own "Premium-Fahrzeuge".

In 100 Years they groom the fields with horses or work for the new property owners.

I like the philosophy change in modern F1 to more environmental compatibility.

 

[Richard Coleman]

Personally ending racism would be awesome. I have an Asian girlfriend and the amount of racism thrown her way is insane.... until they see my face and run a mile the opposite direction.

Mercedes have done something quite remarkable in my book (hate this comment if you must I really don't care).

They are showing their support for one of their drivers and his community. So good on them for that.

 

[bengoldring]

Why should Hamilton quit Mercedes because of something the company did over 70 years ago? If that's the way you think, you yourself should probably not buy any clothes as most of them are produced in sweatshops in Asia, and don't buy any food as a lot of it is sold by companies belonging to the Nestlé corporation, etc.

That is not what he's saying, he's basically calling Hamilton a Hypocrite.

 

[Aki Korhonen]

i preferred white color with blue. soon all the cars are black..i think this is nonsense. mb is silver thats it.

 

[LeSunTzu]

I agree 100%! It's absurd but it is what a lot of these kind of protests have morphed into, not being about ending racism, which I am in total agreement with, but dragging up centuries of history and fuelling further political division. It has been completely politicised, and when you bring politics into sport (which shouldn't happen) then you should be consistent in your moral standards. Why does F1 race in Bahrain for example with its appalling human rights record? Why are sports left right and centre taking money from Saudi Arabia in its sportwashing campaign?

I totally understand what you mean but this livery and its simple message are fine and I think you read too much into it . I agree 100% about F1 going into countries that have a bad records in human rights and anti-racism. But that does not mean it is bad to send some message against racism in a moment where it is a hot topic in the world.

One could also say that this is in Mercedes's best interests (it will not hurt its efforts to retain Hamilton and it makes good publicity) but there is no reason to doubt that the people behind this initiative are genuine in their intent to improve equality.

 

[Aki Korhonen]

Will Bottas and the rest of the team be blackened also?

i hope not

 

[omanrak]

Look at 'em, all wearing masks, what a bunch of clowns.

 

[madhopz]

Everyone in all sports should sport all black. Black is a combination of all colors, so the inclusion box is ticked. Tell them apart by their numbers.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Still waiting for Hamilton to quit Mercedes based on their links to slavery during WW2.... or for him to end his personal association with Hugo Boss for their use of forced labour during the same period. Maybe the victims weren't of the right skin colour for people to care in this day and age?
Something tells me I'll be waiting for a very long time. These messages I don't mind, rather the hypocrisy behind them.

Can you be more specific on the hypocrisy? Is all the hypocrisy you reference date back to WW2? Are any of the hypocrisy issues related to current practices?

 

[Raging Beard]

Everyone in all sports should sport all black. Black is a combination of all colors, so the inclusion box is ticked. Tell them apart by their numbers.

Erm, technically black is the absence of light (of all colours). As an example, drop RGB sliders to zero and you get black. Sorry this has no bearing on the conversation here, just thought I'd nit pick a technical point

 

[Ls tech]

F1 IS POLITICAL, WITH SPORT AGGREGATE.

 

[Raging Beard]

It's a very good looking black car, but I don't see how this is anything meaningful. I mean, if it was 100% black with zero colour on it at all, no logos, decals, etc, then it would be different and you would stop and think what's going on here?

As it is, you see it and think that looks cool (or not maybe), you don't think "oh hey, great to see Mercedes supporting diversity".

Anyone with a black car, or black anything, could slap a diversity tagline on it. It's not as if Merc have gone out of their way to make something really stand out, or out of the norm, besides changing base paint colour to another which looks real good anyway.

I probably am missing something I guess. Diversity and good looking cars are great, so this is a win, but I don't really see the link.

 

[386]

It's really revealing that people get pissed over a car that simply just says "End Racism" on it. Of course, a black car isn't going to end racism on its own. But its a nice message and the car itself looks nice

 

[ZuneGuy]

Still waiting for Hamilton to quit Mercedes based on their links to slavery during WW2.... or for him to end his personal association with Hugo Boss for their use of forced labour during the same period. Maybe the victims weren't of the right skin colour for people to care in this day and age?
Something tells me I'll be waiting for a very long time. These messages I don't mind, rather the hypocrisy behind them.

That would not be a smart move. Why leave the team when you can both raise awareness, and change their minds at the same time. With this new display on their cars, it is a clear message that he is doing just that. Lewis Hamilton is a winner, he's an incredible driver and athlete, and he's becoming an activist. He knows that to change hearts, you first have to open minds. The Mercedes Team is the perfect platform for this, so no leaving would be a travesty. He's the only black driver in history, and the only driver to directly suffer racial prejudice in the sport.

 

[ZuneGuy]

Bloody pointless. Will be called racists for my own opinion but oh well think what you want.

"Yeah let's paint our car one colour and then say its in the name of diversity." What a load of crap.

People trying to force this message across is gonna create more hate not fix the problem thats there. Also since all this came about amazing seeing the amount of hypocrites around the world who make out to be supporting the cause when theyre just as bad as everyone else.

Then the hatred that is is felt wasn't created by any of this at all. The hatred was always inside them to begin with before any of this started. The cause for change is simply going to put the hatred that was always there, out into the world on display for all to finally see. Saying that it is going to create hatred is just an excuse. The cause for change is either going to make one think about why they hate, or it's going to fuel the hatred that already resided in their hearts.

 

[madhopz]

Erm, technically black is the absence of light (of all colours). As an example, drop RGB sliders to zero and you get black. Sorry this has no bearing on the conversation here, just thought I'd nit pick a technical point

Physics. In the visible spectrum, black is the absorption of all colors. ... A black pigment can, however, result from a combination of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black".


In additive color mixing, like light, all the colors combined create white. Consider a prism and imagine the process in reverse. In subtractive color mixing, like paint, all the colors combined create black. ... Red, Blue, and Yellow can appear (when mixed in the right proportions) to make black, but it's actually brown.

We are both right.

 

[Petteri Viitala]

It's really revealing that people get pissed over a car that simply just says "End Racism" on it. Of course, a black car isn't going to end racism on its own. But its a nice message and the car itself looks nice

"Look at us! We are against bad things!!" Is no message.

It's just meaningless virtue signalling, meaning: "Look at us, and our sponsors!!". Just like all companies doing the same kind of thing.

No racist stops being one because of this.

 

[ZuneGuy]

Yep, it's hilarious that people don't realise the ones "fighting racism" are the only ones looking at people's skin color. Can't expect much from brainwashed sheeps.
I miss the 90s~00s you know... we just wanted to see cool movies, cool cars, athletes doing their best, nobody (and by that I mean huge majority) cared if the guy was black, white, pink, man or woman or alien. People that didn't care back then are starting to get angry and not in a good way. My brother and sister are black so I worry about them a lot, this **** will backfire big time

"nobody (and by that I mean huge majority) cared if the guy was black, white, pink"

No offense to you, but you are the exact archetype of a person who needs to educate themselves on this exact subject. The picture that you paint is a picture of someone who has been shielded from ever having to care about this topic. Please take off the rose colored glasses so that you can read, and then hopefully you would want to ask real questions about the topic from people who live the topic everyday.