Formula 1 is a sport watched by millions of people all over the world, making it the perfect place for positive messages and messages of support to be displayed.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have ensured that they have used their exposure and fame to the best of their ability in recent years, making multiple political gestures at race weekends.
Hamilton wore a t-shirt at the Tuscan Grand Prix calling for the arrest of the police officers who killed Breoanna Taylor in the USA, while Vettel has sported numerous helmet designs in protest against injustices in the country when the race is taking place.
The pair will have to be careful going forward however, as the FIA have now changed the rules surrounding these gestures, making them punishable as of the start of the 2023 season.
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Drivers will now have to seek prior approval from the FIA if they wish to make any political, religious or personal gestures over the course of a race weekend, somewhat silencing those who press for change.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has said that the drivers are good at driver, so they should stick to doing it, rather than turning Formula 1 into a vessel for politics.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has chosen to look at these rule changes in a positive light, claiming that any previous interactions between Hamilton and the FIA have ended positively.
“We need to see how this really pans out, we understand that sports are here not to make politics but, on the contrary, unite,” said the Austrian via Motorsport.com.
“I have no doubt that Mohammed and the FIA mean well, to achieve the right things. It’s just about aligning that with the drivers that have been more outspoken in the past.
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“Every time I know when Mohammed has spoken to Lewis, or the other way around, it has ended in a positive conversation. So I have no doubt that once people sit at the table together, things will not appear as harsh as when they are being written down in the off-season.”
After t-shirts with political messages became fairly common on the podium, drivers were forced to wear their race suits done up to the neck during the celebrations, to prevent these unexpected messages.
The drivers have been urged by Nico Rosberg to use their social media channels for good in the wake of the FIA’s actions, with millions of people viewing what the drivers choose to share or post on the likes of Instagram or Twitter.