Australia Bushfire: Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton donates $500K to wildfire victims

Six times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton stated on Thursday that he was making a donation of $500,000 to Australia’s bushfire victims.

Hamilton, who races for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, had previously shared a video of a scorched koala being attended to agaisnt an element of smoke and blazes.

The bushfires have so far left 26 people killed or injured an estimated one billion animals.

"It saddens me deeply to know that over 1 billion animals in Australia died a painful death, no way out, not their fault," commented the Mercedes driver.

"My love of animals is no secret and I can't help but grieve for the defenceless animals thought to have died so far, pushing certain species closer to extinction."

The 35-year-old tried to persuade his 14 million Instagram and 5.6 million twitter followers, to sign up with him in thinking of the impact that we were having on our planet.

"Let's work together to make small changes, and encourage our family and friends to do the same, so we can help shift the direction we're going in," added Hamilton, who said he was making a donation to Wires Wildlife Rescue, WWF Australia and rural fire services.

The Formula One driver, who has a residence in Colorado has shared images of himself snowboarding in the mountains, but did not mention if he had made his donation in US dollars or Australian.

Mercedes couldn’t elucidate but the BBC reported it as Australian dollars, equal in value to U.S. $342,600.

Renault's Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo has also used social media platforms to call for donations, saying he had contributed.

He stated that he would also be signing and raffling his racesuit from Australian Grand Prix to raise more endowments.

Other Australian sports personalities and international tennis players in the country for the Australian Open have also augmented funds in support of the bushfire victims.

Also Read: Australia Bushfire: Over billions of animals, insects have been killed in wildfire, say wildlife experts

Also Read: Australia Bushfires: Police charges at least 24 people for intentionally starting wildfire