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Racing Pride showcased its Pride Hub at the British Grand Prix, with FormulaNerds part of the volunteering team.
Delays and Inclement weather
Arriving at the circuit well ahead of schedule for my first day on Thursday, I had a slight delay getting through the gates. Although I had a public stage pass ( not to be confused with the giant main stage), access was restricted until the circuit opened. Fresh from showcasing its hub and pride party at the GT 500 earlier this year, its hub at the British Grand Prix was a fantastic achievement for the movement.
Texting Event Manager Pauline McFerran, who, along with Founder Richard Morris, did an unbelievable job putting the event together, help was immediately dispatched.
After the wonderful Lucy Ball-Wood (known to a few of us as LastLapLucy) arrived to assist with my issues, we made our way to the hub for the day. Taking in the quietness of the circuit that had yet to see the floods of people arriving, our blissful silence was shattered by the sounds of “testing, testing Johnny” from the main stage.
After another look at Luffield, we arrived at the Racing Pride hub, located behind Wootcote. Racing Pride’s volunteers for the weekend came from across motorsport, from content creators such as Chloe Varkas from Hey Girl Magazine to current British Championship go-karter Jessica Alexander.
This diversity is what makes Racing Pride so unique. Anyone and everyone is welcome at Racing Pride, and all are united by a love of motorsport.
As is the way with the British weather in 2024, conditions were not ideal. When living under a marquee for the day, the last thing you need is high winds. The wind would be our unwelcome companion for the entire day. However, our spirits remained high, and we were determined to make the most of the day.
Nonetheless, we were now set up and ready to welcome anyone and everyone to the hub. With no on-track action on Thursday, volunteers could explore the track while not on duty.
The highlight by far was the fantastic panel session on Women in Motorsport, which featured Aston Martin’s development driver and Head of F1 Academy Jess Hawkins and Red Bull’s Principal Strategy Engineer Hannah Schmitz. All promoted the vital ongoing work involving women in all aspects of motorsport. The crowds loved seeing the panel, and it no doubt inspired many young women and girls to pursue a career in the sport.
Although it was a quiet day on the hub thanks to the high winds, we were entertained by becoming structurally integral to it at various points—myself and fellow volunteer Dan Buergin needed to hold it up. Such was the friendly nature of the volunteers and sense of community; an afternoon volunteer named Hudson handed out scrunchies for us all individually. It was a good opening day that set the tone for the second.
Friday Panel session
The high winds had thankfully died down by Friday morning, but rain showers replaced it. But, this did not matter: Friday would bring in the crowds for the on-track action ahead.
Unsurprisingly, as soon as the track opened at 7 am, fans descended into the circuit, and the hub became a hive of activity. We had fans talking to us who had come as far as Canada to watch the British Grand Prix. However, my time on the hub was short as I headed over with Dan to the public stage near the Wellington Straight to watch the Racing Pride panel session.
A few benches were scattered about, but all were full. As soon as Racing Pride took to the stage, there was instant interest. The panel, chaired by presenter Antonia Rankin, consisted of Richard Morris, Chloe Varkas, Manon Clement, and Jordan Rand. The internationalisation of the panel was striking. Jordan had flown in from the United States, while Manon came from Europe.
Part of the reason for this is the work Racing Pride does with the teams. It works with them “behind the scenes” for inclusivity for all staff, with fantastic results, as Morris explained:
“We also do work behind the teams, behind the scenes. We have… five partner teams, I see a lot of people in McLaren stuff around here. McLaren is one of our partners in June, they’ve been running the Racing Pride logo on their steering wheels.
Founder proud of work so far
Speaking exclusively to FormulaNerds following the session, Morris said the outreach was by far the most important aspect of Racing Pride’s appearance at Silverstone and spoke of his delight at how the panel session was received:
“It’s fantastic to be here at the British Grand Prix with a pride Hub. It’s our second ever Pride Hub that we’ve had…we had one at the Australian Grand Prix earlier this year. It’s the first time we’ve ever been at Silverstone with a pride hub.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity both to bring our wonderful members together and to embrace and reach out to fans as well, to make sure that Racing Pride is a community for LGBTQ+ people and allies which is accessible to everyone and everyone can be part of the change that we’re making in the sport.”
“I thought the talk was a fantastic opportunity to really speak directly to fans and to engage them about what they’re interested in. We spoke about Racing Pride and what it is. But also about the work we do with partners the teams that they follow and support and the racing that we also do ourselves.
And obviously, fans are here because they’re passionate about Motorsport—we all are. So that’s what we’ve talked about, and I think that’s important to remember with movements like Racing Pride.”
Morris then reiterated the idea behind Racing Pride, that of accessibility for all:
“We’re not trying to change what the sport is. We’re just trying to make sure that it is equally accessible for everyone. And that everyone here can feel that equal sense of belonging and I think we spoke a lot about how beautiful Motorsport can be in bringing people together and that is the key message.”
A very personal realisation of support
As we walked back to the pride hub, Morris recalled a special moment after winning a GT race in the Netherlands. The story showcased just how far the movement of Racing Pride has come:
A growing movement
