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Empowering the underrepresented is a choice driven by necessity, yet to generate meaningful change tomorrow, we recognise that action must be taken today.
This has been at the heart of our journey for countless seasons, and Maserati MSG Racing’s Principal Owner and Chairman, Scott Swid, is at the forefront of our efforts.
One day on from our celebrations on International Women’s Day, Scott discusses why we do what we do, the critical importance of diversity, and how change can be generated through action.
"Motorsport is a performance-driven industry, and working in the industry is incredibly hard. The hours are long, the situations are high-stress, and everything is results-orientated,” he explains.
“To be the best team in that environment, it’s important to have the best people in order to succeed, and to get the best, you cannot exclude anyone.
“The different backgrounds and personalities that come from having a diverse workforce unlocks performance, and through that, when everyone can bring their whole self to work, we can operate at our best.
“Every high-performance organisation should strive to have this environment, because for me, without it, it’s never going to operate at its best.”
While Maserati MSG Racing takes active measures to foster an open and inclusive culture, we recognise that our work today will not, unfortunately, change the world overnight.
By highlighting and creating key role models in the team, however, we can change the motorsport industry for the better by inspiring the next generation of talent.
“With divisions and inequality in society, some minority groups struggle to find representation, and representation is incredibly important if we want to change the world for the better,” continues Scott.
“Seeing someone who is like you, working for a team, can inspire people. They realise that they can do it too, and that really, with the right support there’s nothing that they can’t do.
“It gives hope to people all over the globe. It makes them realise that their aspirations and dreams can become a reality.
“By creating role models for the next generation, we have the blueprints for change, but this is a journey because we need to continue to show people that motorsport can be a career path for everyone.
“Obviously, it’s not easy and we’re not perfect, but we try our best. We can’t see the diverse talent pool that we want to see, so we’re trying to create it now.”
While we bring our whole selves to the table, we want our fans to be able to do the same. That’s why we’re taking active measures to build a safe space for everyone.
Every message of support only strengthens our beliefs and convictions, and serve as a continual reminder that together, we can fight for change.
“We receive lots of messages of support from our fans, and even our on-track competitors, and that tells us that what we’re doing is right,” says Scott.
“What we do is authentic – we speak from the heart, and we do so because we want to see change, and we’ll keep doing it so we can close the circle and create true equity.
“It’s not easy and we need to keep working to expand what we mean and promote what we believe in.”
We can’t redefine the culture of motorsport alone, however, by acting as a voice, we can disrupt the status quo and unify to inspire others to fight for change.
“The social legs that our stool sits on are female empowerment, LGBTQ+ inclusion, mental health awareness, and environmental sustainability,” adds Scott.
“Sustainability is shared between every Formula E team, and it’s the first three that make us stand out from our competitors.
“But we don’t want to be the only ones – we want everyone to join us. When we fly our Pride flag in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, some people might choose to look away.
“But if every team on the grid followed us, we could raise awareness and generate meaningful change together.”
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