For years now Formula 1 drivers have been using their massive exposure all around the world for good, with a number of political gestures sending much needed shockwaves through the sport.
Lewis Hamilton wore a t-shirt at the Tuscan Grand Prix calling for the arrest of the police officers who killed Breonna Taylor and Sebastian Vettel has worn multiple different helmet designs to protest against crimes and injustices in some of the countries which F1 travels to.
The drivers will now be banned from making such gestures, with making political, religious and personal gestures now being a punishable offence until prior approval has been granted by the FIA.
Liberal Democrat life peer Paul Scriven has written to the FIA to express his concern about the silencing of F1 drivers about important issues and now Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas has admitted that he is also worried about the new rule.
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“I personally don’t like politics,” he began telling Expressen.
“What I love is racing, but politics is a part of today’s society. I think F1 has done a good job of bringing attention to these kinds of issues and many drivers have taken a stand, including Sebastian.
“I don’t understand why they want to control us. I think we should have a say in things if we want to. I’m looking at the big picture, but we’ll see what happens.”
Toto Wolff has urged people to give the new rules time to settle in the sport, as he believes that based on the FIA’s previous interactions with Lewis Hamilton and the rest of his team, they only have the sport’s best intentions at heart.
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Although he would like to see how everything pans out, Wolff has admitted that once he returns from his off-season adventures in Antarctica, Lewis Hamilton will certainly review and address these new rules surrounding political gestures.
The seven-time world champion recently admitted that he did not even brief his Mercedes team before making his Black Lives Matter gesture back in 2020, as he feared that his plans may have been blocked by the Silver Arrows.
After taking the knee and displaying a BLM t-shirt, Hamilton has explained that his team were very supportive of him and have been ever since, much to the relief of the now potentially silenced Brit.