© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says the FIA’s ‘political speech ban’ doesn’t surprise him, but adds “nothing will stop me from speaking on the things I feel passionate about”.
The FIA recently announced they will not allow drivers to give ‘political or personal statements’ at events sanctioned by the governing organization.
This provoked many, mostly negative, reactions from observers, some of whom have accused the FIA of trying to ‘gag’ drivers.
Lewis Hamilton has been especially vocal about issues that he is concerned about, like human rights, racism and diversity, so many observers are saying the new rule seems to be targeting him directly.
Many F1 personalities have already expressed their dislike of the decision, but Lewis remained silent. However, at Mercedes’ 2023 car launch, he finally gave his comments on the issue.
“I wasn’t really watching the news over the winter but I have heard it,” the Briton said.
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“It doesn’t surprise me but nothing will stop me from speaking on the things I feel passionate about and the issues there are.
“I feel the sport has a responsibility still, always, to speak out on things and create awareness on important topics when we are travelling to all these different places. So nothing changes.
“I think it would be silly to say I would want to get penalty points for speaking out on things.
“But I am still going to be speaking my mind, we still have this platform and there are still a lot of things we need to tackle.
“The support of [F1 CEO] Stefano [Domenicali] has been amazing and I think all the drivers have been very much aligned on freedom of speech.”
