“It’s not my choice to be here”: Lewis Hamilton admits he is not comfortable with racing in Saudi Arabia ahead of the country’s inaugural Grand Prix this weekend

Lewis Hamilton said he is not ‘completely comfortable’ with racing in Saudi Arabia due to the country’s troubling human rights record. 

Next weekend, F1 makes its debut in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. This newly constructed track on the shores of the Red Sea is expected to be the fastest on the calendar.

The decision to do business in Saudi Arabia was met with massive criticism. The country is known for its poor track record for human rights. Well-known personalities, including Sebastian Vettel, said that they don’t look forward to racing there.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton also recently admitted that he’s not entirely comfortable racing in Saudi Arabia.

“As I said at the last race (in Qatar), I felt that the sport and we are duty bound to try to help raise awareness for certain issues that we’ve seen. Particularly human rights in these countries that we’re going to.” Hamilton said.

“With the upmost respect to everyone that’s here, so far I’ve had a warm welcome from everyone on the ground.”

“Do I feel comfortable here? I wouldn’t say I do. But it’s not my choice to be here, the sport has taken the choice to be here. Whether it’s right or wrong, whilst we’re here again, I feel it’s important that we do try to raise awareness.” he added.

Also read: Former F1 driver expects Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to be dominant at the Saudi Arabian GP and take the Title fight to the last round

Lewis Hamilton will wear a helmet promoting LGBTQ+ rights in Jeddah

Hamilton went ahead to explain the deplorable conditions people of the LGBTQ+ community face in Saudi Arabia. As an F1 driver, he feels that it’s his job to raise as much awareness and show as much support as possible.

The Mercedes driver also calls for better living conditions for women in the country. “In the last race for example, you saw the helmet that I wore. I will wear that again here again and the next race. Because that’s an issue.” the seven-time World Champion continued.

“And if anyone wants to take the time to read what the law is for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s pretty terrifying. There’s changes that need to be made.”

“Those changes, for example, women’s rights of being able to drive in 2018, is how they’re policed. Are they really in effect? Why are some women still in prison for driving many, many years ago?

“There’s a lot of change that needs to happen and I think our sport needs to do more.”  he concluded.

Also read: Amnesty expects Max Verstappen to speak against human rights violations in Saudi Arabia amidst first race in middle-east nation