Formula 1 has become more and more political in recent seasons, but for all the right reasons.
Back in 2020, when Formula 1 was one of the only ‘elite’ sports taking place and being aired on TV, the drivers used their exposure to the world to protest against racism in the world, using the ‘We Race as One’ campaign to do so.
Since then the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have continued to make political gestures at race weekends, going above and beyond to try and make the world a better place.
Hamilton for example wore a rainbow helmet in 2021 to the races in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in support of the LGBTQ community in countries where homosexuality is illegal.
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The drivers will have to be much more careful with these gestures this season, as the FIA have now banned any political, religious or personal gestures that they have not approved, making them a punishable offence.
Williams driver Alex Albon is seeking clarity on this new rule, believing that the sport is taking somewhat of a backwards step after sending such a powerful message with the ‘We Race as One’ campaign.
“I think more than anything, it’s a bit of confusion,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“Because the way I see it personally is last year, we were focused on a We Race as One initiative and I think we’re doing a good job in addressing certain issues around the world, we are using our profiles in the right way.
“We were maybe going to some circuits that were slightly controversial, but the way we were handling it was we were addressing topics in them places that we felt needed awareness.
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“It seems like we’ve gone slightly back on that now and there is a different view between the drivers, the FIA, but even also F1, we need to understand and have a talk about it.”
The FIA have been accused of silencing the likes of Lewis Hamilton to protect their host countries, who do not take kindly to being protested against while the host a Grand Prix.
So far Albon has been joined by Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas in questioning this new rule, showing that the divide between F1 and the FIA is growing larger and larger as the days go by.