Former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle has asked former footballer Gary Lineker not to “encourage” the behaviour seen by a group of protestors at the British Grand Prix last weekend.
Just Stop Oil is a climate change activist group that aim to take action against the use of fossil fuels due to their adverse impact on the world.
Since the arrival of the turbo hybrid era in 2014, Formula 1 has been developing sustainable fuel and engine systems to help the world move on from fossil fuels and use renewable energy at no detriment to their way of living.
They announced ahead of the British Grand Prix that they have successfully synthesised a sustainable fuel that does not contain fossil fuels, and this will be used from the 2026 season onwards.
Sadly, the group of protestors did not get the memo about how much the pinnacle of motorsport is doing to help the wider world, and they stormed the track during the red flag period on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
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Thankfully, the cars were all running at a slow pace due to the horrible crash at the start, after which all drivers were okay, but the invasion of the track put the lives of themselves, the drivers and the marshals at risk.
A spokesperson was invited onto Good Morning Britain to talk about the objective of their protest.
“I’m on your programme talking about the most critical issue facing humanity so I’d call that a success,” they said.
“We’re out of time, unfortunately.
“We’re in a dire situation right now, we had three named storms in the United Kingdom recently, we hit 49 Degrees [Celsius] in British Colombia recently, it’s supposed to have a top temperature of like 16 Degrees.
“It was 30 Degrees above average in the Arctic, 40 Degrees above average in the Antarctic, it was so hot in India and Pakistan birds were literally dropping out the sky.
“We’re seeing crops fail worldwide, if we don’t take action now, we’re all going to…” he tailed off.
He then highlighted the importance of “disruptive action,” and how that has a track record of effecting changes in society.
Lineker took to Twitter to show his support for the activists.
“If it’s not already too late, history will look back very favourably on these people,” he said.
Brundle responded by explaining that the behaviour of the protestors jeopardised the safety of many people, not just themselves.
“Gary please don’t encourage this reckless behaviour,” he said.
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“They’d have been sliced into 100 pieces and fans, marshals and drivers were wholly at risk of injury and death. We already had one lucky escape.
“I totally 100% support freedom of speech and opinion, but do it responsibly.”
Just Stop Oil protestors also disrupted various Premier League football games last season by tying themselves to goalposts.