Lewis Hamilton says negative comments by “older voices” are not representative of the direction Formula 1 is heading in.
The Mercedes driver has been at the centre of attention ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix after resurfaced video showed Nelson Piquet, a three-time world champion in the 1980s, using a racial slur towards him.
At the same time, 91-year-old former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone also criticised Hamilton, suggesting he should simply accept the apology Piquet later issued for his comments.
Speaking at Silverstone on Thursday, Lewis began by thanking those who came out in support of him.
“Firstly, I’m incredibly grateful to all those that have been supportive within the sport, particularly the drivers,” he told in the press conference.
“It’s been two years since many of us took the knee at the frustration in Austria and of course, we’re still faced with the challenges.
“I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and criticism and that negativity and archaic narratives for a long long time, and undertones of discrimination, so there’s nothing really particularly new for me.”
The seven-time world champion then argued F1 should focus more on the future generation rather than relying on those from the past.
“I think it’s more about the bigger picture. I mean, I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform,” he said.
“They are speaking upon our sport and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different and that’s not representative I think of who we are as a sport now and where we are planning to go.
“If we’re looking to grow, in the US and other countries, South Africa, and grow our audience we need to look into the future and give the younger people a platform that is more representative of today’s time and who we’re trying to be, the direction that we’re going [in].
“So it’s not just about one individual. It’s not about just that one use of that term. It is the bigger picture.”
It’s more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) June 28, 2022
Hamilton then called for “real action” instead of public statements, calling them a “knee jerk reaction” for PR purposes in “crisis management”.
“We’ve got to actually start acting and as I said, it just comes back down to you, to F1, to the media, we should not be giving these people a platform,” he continued.
“These old voices are you know, whether they’re subconscious or consciously, do not agree that people like me, for example, should be in a sport like this, do not agree women should be here, discrimination is not something we should be projecting and promoting and giving a platform to create and divide people.
“We’re living in such a difficult time in the world. We need people to be bringing people together. You know, we’re all the same, and it is not helpful.
“The comments that we’re seeing from these people, I don’t think the last couple of weeks, I don’t think a day has gone by where there’s not been someone from some of the older…that have not really been in our sport or relevant in our sport for decades, trying to say negative things and trying to bring me down, but I’m still here. I’m still standing strong.”
