Lewis Hamilton has reaffirmed his commitment to promoting social justice messages during his racing career despite a recent warning from Formula1‘s governing body the FIA.
FIA has recently passed legislation aimed at prohibiting drivers from speaking out on political issues and instead focusing on just the racing element.
FIA’s new International Sporting Code requires drivers to get prior permission before making “political, religious and personal statements or comments” during race weekends
The contentious nature of the diktat has put the drivers and the governing body in direct confrontation in front of the peering eyes of the world media during a time when the relations between the two are at their thinnest.
Most of the drivers have already criticized the ruling while Lewis Hamilton got his chance to address the FIA during his team’s car launch for the upcoming season.
“Nothing will stop me from speaking on the things that I feel that I’m passionate about and issues there are,” Hamilton said.
“I feel the sport does have a responsibility, still, always, to speak out as a means to create awareness on important topics, particularly as we are travelling to all these different places, so nothing changes.”
“I’m still going to be speaking on my end,” Hamilton added.
“We still have this platform. There’s a lot of things we need to tackle.”
Hamilton is seen as the vocal leader of the F1 paddock on social issues. His role will be even more prominent in the upcoming season after the retirement of Sebastian Vettel.
The seven-time World Champion also led F1’s response during the Geroge Floyd case and also beefed with FIA over the use of jewellery last season.
Their tussle is likely to continue into the season.
