Lewis Hamilton is proud of retired four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel for having “found his purpose”, with the German having introduced his ‘Buzzin corner’ project to all 20 drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Vettel is at Suzuka this weekend due to having unveiled his ‘insect hotels’ project, which has seen 11 habitats built on the inside of the second corner.
So that the insect hotels can be easily located, the kerb at Turn 2 has been painted yellow and black, to resemble a bee.
Vettel has introduced the project to raise awareness of how important biodiversity is, with the German continuing to work tirelessly to support the environment.
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The 53-time race winner took to Instagram to explain what the project was about and how the bee is its “ambassador”.
“There’s one special thing about this corner this weekend, the kerbs are painted in yellow and black,” Vettel wrote on Instagram.
“That’s unique because all the other kerbs, for example at the entrance of the corner, are painted in white and red.
“It’s very different and the reason for that is because together with Buzzin’ Corner we are racing for biodiversity.
“With this project I want to create awareness around the importance and subject of biodiversity.
“We all know one insect that is very famous, and it’s the bee, and the bee is yellow and black. It’s perfect ambassador for this project and idea to highlight the importance of biodiversity because it stands not just for the bee, it stands for all the other insects.
“So we use the bee as our ambassador and she will help us, hopefully, to stress this very powerful message.”
During Vettel’s unveiling of the project to all the drivers, he was seen hugging Hamilton, with the duo having developed a strong bond over recent years in their support of various campaigns and communities.
Vettel was famously the first driver to take the knee alongside Hamilton in recognition of Black Lives Matter, something which resulted in an extremely powerful image.
It’s clear that Vettel is keen to continue supporting positive change in F1, even though he’s no longer a driver in the championship.
Hamilton is hopeful that the German will “inspire” the drivers to spread a similar message of addressing biodiversity, something the seven-time World Champion recognises as being massively important.
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“I think it is great to have Seb back this weekend, he sat down and told all the drivers about his plans,” Hamilton said, as reported by The Express.
“It is great he has found his purpose, and in the history of the sport, I don’t know any other driver who has been so outspoken and shown such passion for the world outside the [F1] one we live in.
“I hope he inspires the rest of the drivers to do something, to spread love, spread compassion, raise awareness, there are millions of problems we need to address but biodiversity, it’s great to raise awareness of how important it is.”