Lewis Hamilton is one the staunch activists of human rights. The seven-time world champion is never afraid of speaking against the higher authorities, whether in Formula 1 or the countries he visits to compete in Grand Prix races.
That’s why Amnesty International even asked him to speak against alleged atrocities by Saudi Arabia before their debut F1 race. The Briton at that time claimed that he hoped F1’s constant visit could change their view and bring in modern reforms.
But ahead of the 2023 season, Hamilton has backtracked from his previous claim. He doesn’t think F1 has the power to change the oppression happening in countries with questionable human rights records.
Lewis Hamilton says Formula 1 drivers are “duty bound” to try and raise awareness of issues in Saudi Arabia and admits he is “open” to meeting those in authority to try and drive change in the country. pic.twitter.com/IVdWo5O8Ho
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 25, 2022
Lewis Hamilton thinks nothing better happened in those countries
F1 has been racing in Bahrain for over a decade now. Bahrain, which is hosting the season opener this weekend, is in the calendar since 2004, and even they are accused of human rights violations within their territory. But despite F1’s regular appearance, things haven’t got better.
“I can’t say whether or not I know if it has got worse but I am not sure it has got better while we have been coming all these years,” he said as per the Guardian. He claims he has started reading about the atrocities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain since last year.
This statement comes after Lord Scriven, vice chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, urged Hamilton and others would be using their right in accepting not to compete in the countries with such controversial human rights records.
Sebastian Vettel & Lewis Hamilton kneeling together 💚💜
These two have been outspoken all week about the human rights issues in Saudi Arabia. I love that they chose to kneel side by side 🏳️🌈#SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/tyt8cCWdnI
— Sir Lewis Hamilton Updates (@SirLewisUpdates) December 6, 2021
The issue raised by the group is currently snowballing in F1. CEO Stefano Domenicali was propelled to claim that F1 is engaging with the said communities to improve the sociological condition within their borders.
F1 can remove countries with bad human rights records
Recently, Domenicali has been constantly asked about F1’s efforts to remove the accusation of joining hands with repressive regimes for money. He recently retorted back by mentioning Russia as an example.
He claimed if a country goes extremely poor in upholding its human rights situation, it’ll be axed from the calendar. Russia invading Ukraine at the start of 2022 prompted F1 to cancel the Russian Grand Prix for the time foreseen.
Stefano Domenicali said #F1 is ready to cancel races over human rights concerns, as each circuit’s contract has conditions for “stopping relationships” if “something is not going to the right direction”.
Yet, in ’23 there will be even more races in the most offending regions 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/zjncGGdhSQ
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) February 13, 2023
He cited this action of F1 upholding its human rights commitment. But apparently, it’s not enough seeing some regimes constantly oppress the people they find unacceptable or have disputes with. Since it’s not an outright act of war, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
