Formula 1 has the option to cancel Grands Prix when they are located in countries where human rights progress is not progressing well enough, Stefano Domenicali reports. The CEO of Formula 1 states that options are included in the contracts to have them terminated unilaterally in such cases. The Italian thinks it is important that the sport continues to visit these countries, in order to accelerate the process of improving human rights.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Domenicali reveals that Formula 1 has the option to terminate contracts with countries where there is no progress in human rights compliance. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are known to continue to violate them, and thus risk losing their grand prix if progress is not sufficient. “We also have very clear clauses in our contracts that if we see something not going in the right direction, we have the right to immediately end our relationship. There are independent supervisors who monitor that.’
Nevertheless, the CEO of F1 thinks it is important that the sport goes to these countries, precisely to show that they have the will to improve themselves. The attention of Formula 1 should help speed up the process, the Italian thinks. “Once again, I believe we are much more powerful when we go to places where there is a real will to change and the spotlight of Formula 1 will help speed up the pace of change.”
FIA in disrepute after new regulations
Earlier, the FIA ​​was already discredited by forbidding drivers to express themselves politically. This came in for a lot of criticism, but Domenicali quickly nuanced these regulations by stating that drivers are allowed to express themselves in a respectful manner. “No one is going to stand in the way of that unless you get into politics because we are a sporting dimension, but to draw attention to certain topics that are central to today’s discussion, I don’t think there’s a problem, and I’m sure that the FIA ​​shares that opinion.’
