Lewis Hamilton will not be stopped by the FIA’s ban on political statements, he says to RaceFans, among others. That is a new rule that will take effect from this season, whereby drivers must first obtain written permission from the motorsport body before they can express themselves in their desired way.
Hamilton is not the first, let alone the only one, to speak out against the new rule. Drivers such as Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Alexander Albon have expressed their concerns. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali – not responsible for the ban – recently discussed the matter and said Formula 1 does not want to silence anyone. The Italian will discuss the rule with the FIA.
Someone who will not be silenced in any way is Hamilton, he says. “I didn’t really follow the news over the winter, but I heard about it and wasn’t surprised. But nothing will stop me when I want to speak out about things I’m passionate about or about problems that exist. The sport has a responsibility to speak out and draw attention to important issues. This changes nothing for me.’
Hamilton would find consequences strange
The FIA has not yet commented on possible consequences in case a driver speaks out about something without permission. Hamilton is therefore still with a question mark. ‘I would find it strange if I got demerit points for speaking out about things. But like I said, I keep speaking out and we still have this platform. There are still plenty of things we need to address.’
In any case, Hamilton is happy with the aforementioned statements by CEO Domenicali. The seven-time world champion and Mercedes driver says he gets a lot of support from that. Stefano’s support feels great. I also think that all drivers are very much on the same page when it comes to freedom of expression,” concludes the 38-year-old Englishman.
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