Sebastian Vettel has been in the news lately for highlighting the humanitarian consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
During and episode of BBC’s Question time, Vettel was talking about how the war in Ukraine is affecting innocent civilians and will continue to do so for a while. He also shared his opinion on Finland potentially joining NATO in the coming weeks.
This spread quickly around social media and the German earned a lot plaudits. Fans praised him him for being politically aware, and being outspoken about these issues.
“One thing we mustn’t forget is that the Ukrainian people are suffering today, tomorrow and probably for a long time.”
F1 Driver Sebastian Vettel highlights the humanitarian consequences of the Ukraine conflict while discussing Finland applying to join Nato. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/hnYFYWN0ux
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) May 12, 2022
It’s not the first time Vettel has spoken against things that he feels should be a matter of concern. He has been a huge advocate for LGBTQ+ rights over the years. And earlier this year, he was the first F1 driver to publicly announce that he won’t travel to Russia if the sport went racing there.
However, there are some Lewis Hamilton fans on Twitter, who noticed the ‘hypocrisy’ of the F1 community when it comes to the Brit talking about political issues.
Hamilton should be shown support for doing the same thing as Sebastian Vettel
A fan took to Twitter to talk about how she feels Hamilton faces discrimination for doing the same thing Vettel does. We know that the seven-time World Champion too is a big advocate for human and LGBTQ+ rights.
The seven-time World Champion also works hard to make sure that the F1 community gets more diverse over the course of the next few years. He even started his own commission which would give opportunities to people of other backgrounds.
Sebastian Vettel is getting praised for speaking up about politics but Lewis Hamilton is, and have been for YEARS, crucified by F1 fans and journalists for YEARS for bringing “politics into sports”. Huh..
— 🐯 (@stopbeingthem) May 13, 2022
Nothing against Seb btw. I like him and good on him for using his voice to shine light on the many world issues. Just interesting to see how Lewis isn’t shown the same amount of respect and support for doing the same things for years
— 🐯 (@stopbeingthem) May 13, 2022
A lot of people agreed to this, but some of them gave justification as to why Vettel does not receive the criticism Hamilton does.
The difference is that Vettel comes across very genuine when he tells us he feels conflicted about the sport he’s in and what it does to the environment.
I remember LH sitting on a massive speedboat with two huge engines, speaking to us how he’s worried about the environment.
— WimboFormula1 (@Formula1Wimbo) May 13, 2022
Seb speaks genuinely, LH says what he thinks makes him look good
— Danny (@stevebarton28) May 13, 2022
F1 drivers speaking about issues outside of the sporting world will always be met with mixed reviews. Some people feel that they should stick to their profession. Others believe that it’s important to use their platform to raise concerns about issues that plague the society today.
