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Matt Bishop on founding Racing Pride speaking on The F1 Hour

There's also the mechanics and engineers, and I think in general it's people in those professions that probably find it hardest to be open about who they are in Formula One and most sport. And they might be in their 30s, 40s, or even 50s. And they might find it hard to come out because let's say they've worked for Williams, McLaren, or Ferrari for 15 years, and they've been working alongside, perhaps even rooming with, the same fellow mechanics and engineers for 15 years. Rather more difficult to come out than if you've just arrived. People fear people will say, "Why didn't you ever tell me before; I've known you for 15 years mate?"

I began to get anonymous emails, not from people's McLaren or Williams or Ferrari accounts, but from their Gmail accounts or going back in the past even their Compuserve accounts, going back that dates it. Saying, “I know you're out, I see you, I wish I could be, I don't feel I'm able to be.” And sometimes, you could never force somebody, or really even coerce somebody, but you can encourage somebody. Say, "You could come out and maybe this is one of the ways in which you might want to approach it".

If that has happened and the result is that the person feels better about themselves, and their colleagues feel happier about them - because they probably always thought there was something secret about John or Dave or Steve or whoever it was - and the result is then that this mechanic or engineer is a happier, more collaborative colleague: Ultimately what actually happens is that he - because it is usually he, in Formula 1 - he works better, and makes fewer mistakes, and the result is that the car he's working on goes faster.

So I sometimes as a Racing Pride person, I go to teams and say, "You do realize that if you embrace this properly, you'll make your car go faster.” I firmly believe that: there's lap time in the generous acceptance of diversity and inclusivity.

In a career-ranging interview with CameronF1, released June 15, 2022 [x]