“Keeping these conversations going is holding people accountable, and I am not afraid of doing that, as you’ve seen. But if I’don’t do it, who is? Of course, it’s not solely my responsibility.

“It’s working with people and that’s why I am super grateful to see a lot of these drivers taking the knee next to me and standing alongside me.”

Hamilton added that he remains keen to go out while still one of the sport’s top drivers but insists he also does not want to call it a day too early.

He continued: “When I stop this, I’m not fazed by retiring. I speak to a lot of people and they say ‘You’re a long time retired’ and I’m aware of that.

“I don’t want to do it too early and I don’t want to do it too late that you’re on a bad curve and you’re going downhill. I don’t want that to happen.

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“I just want to be challenged [after F1]. I’m always going to be challenging myself. There’s going to be some sort of business that I’m involved in, utilising the voice that I have.

“Whether it’s speaking out publicly or working in the background with organisations to really move the needle in a big way and not just a little step, I have the opportunity to do some really positive things for people.”

Discussing his future in F1 before Christmas, world champion Hamilton said: “We haven’t started the conversation [over a new contract] but we plan to do that over the coming days.