Home

F1

“We Need More & More Compassion”: Activist Lewis Hamilton Springs to Life to Knock FIA Doors Over High Priority Social Issue

Published 02/04/2023, 6:30 PM EST

Follow Us

via Reuters

Lewis Hamilton is the only Black driver to have competed in the most prestigious form of motorsports. The buy from Stevenage grew up to become the biggest star in F1. During his illustrious career, apart from breaking records and taking names, the seven-time champion has been utilizing his position to speak out about several pressing societal issues. The Mercedes driver has led the charge in bringing the public’s attention to a number of challenges in the fast-paced motorsport. He has covered every topic, from Black Lives Matter to the real representation of minorities in Formula One. And as per a video doing the rounds on the internet, it seems he has done it again.

The legendary driver recently discussed some of the most important societal concerns, such as diversity and sustainability in sports. Talking to UBS in a recent interview, Hamilton said, “We also do you know also working on sustainability and we’re also working pushing for diversity and not actually seeing action in the background. So, I feel that my responsibility with taking with the platform now I have is to keep my kind of my foot on the gas and make sure, you know to just to make sure that people are held accountable people are really doing what they do.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The 38-year-old added, “So I when I’m in touch with the CEO of our sport I’ll ask him, Sir, how’s it going? What are you doing? How can I support you? Are you really doing you know like? I’ll ask questions that they probably wouldn’t normally get asked, maybe. And then just getting people to care. We need more and more compassion in the world. We need more and more people.”

Lewis Hamilton has clearly established himself as an inspiration in his efforts to speak for diversity and inclusivity. However, given the current state of affairs, Hamilton may need a few more allies to continue using Formula One as a weapon of choice in the campaign to make any further progress. As a result, he attempted to kindle the same fire among the other F1 drivers back in June 2022.

Lewis Hamilton lights a spark for the remaining Formula One drivers

Lewis Hamilton had made an attempt to get the Formula One driver to speak up at the start of the second half of the last year. In response to the criticism that the sport has become too “political,” he took this action to provide a thunderous response. Apart from Hamilton, Lando Norris of the younger generation, spoke out in favor of improving mental health, while Sebastian Vettel advocated for LGBTQ+ rights.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Reuters

However, when Ben Sulayem raised the question of why the drivers used Formula One as a platform to address ‘outside’ concerns, Hamilton took to his social media ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and wrote, “The sport is continuously growing, we have a bigger audience than ever before and it continues to be an important platform to use our voices, every single one of us here, within the industry and within our companies to do more and speak out more on things and spark more conversations and opinions.”

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest F1 stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

“I encourage all of the drivers to be more outspoken in future and speak about things they care about.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

WATCH THIS STORY: Lewis Hamilton Jumps Off a Plane Amidst His Mental Health Woes

We rarely see someone like Lewis Hamilton. His life serves as a real example of how a person persistently challenges the system. He even showed displeasure with FIA Banning Political Statements and said he “would rather not race again.” But what are your thoughts on the new directive from F1’s governing body?

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Aditya Srivastava

738Articles

One take at a time

Aditya Srivastava is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Although he has completed his undergrad in History, due to his passion for the field, he couldn't hold himself back from entering the world of Sports Journalism. Being a huge fan of Formula 1, Aditya has taken up multiple internships and freelancing gigs where he got to pen down his thoughts about the most prestigious form of motor racing in the world.
Show More>

Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh