Nissan Formula E driver Oliver Rowland believes Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton could do more to help young drivers trying to get into motorsport by becoming p⛎ersonally involved.

Last year, Hamilton revealed his concerns about how expensive F2, Fꦉ3 and karting a♔re during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, having previously revealed his aim to help someone from a less privileged background get into motorsport.

Speaking as a guest on the , Rowland, who owns a karting team, shared his frustration that high-profile drivers s🐼uch as Hamilton fail to get direc🍸tly involved to help address the problem, adding it “pisses” him off.

“I know first-hand how much𒐪 it costs to run a karting team,” Rowland said.

“People say you should get rid of teams because they bring out more costs. But then at the s🌳ame time, as a team we provide a package for the driver to develop much quicker than if he was on his own.

“Especially in Britain we have really good grassroots karting and they tend to get really good really quickly. So it’s very💎 difficult.

“I myself sponsor, or I’ve helped pay for, a couple of𓄧 drivers, or Iꦜ’ve helped in certain ways that I can." 

2015 Formula Renault 3.5 series champion Rowland has been competing in Formula E since 2018 after failing to land a seat in F1 whi𝔉le on the books of Renault and Williams following his own progression through the junior ranks.

“I’m not on t🧜he same level as the top F1 guys, but ♛I put my hand in my pocket to help people who I think deserve it and probably couldn’t go to the next level without that help,” he explained.

“I notice that the people saying it in the press and 𝄹things like that, maybe they could do the same.

“It pisses me off a little bit sometimes when I hear people complaining about it, but then actually they’re not ♊really doing much themselves. For example Lewis said a couple of months ago that people need motorsport grass roots and all this sort of stuff.

“Even if he was to put his name against three or four drivers that were doing exceptionally we🌳ll, that would help draw in sponsorship for them. And that wouldn’t actually cost hiꦐm anything. But it would just be a way for them to then generate a bit of sponsorship for themselves.

“Just to have him backing somebody, he could go to sponsors, he coul𓆏d even go to meetings with them. He’d generate a hundred thousand karting budget very quickly. Whereas without him it’s really difficult for anybody to get anything.”