F1 is a global sport. With the huge fandom the sport has amassed, it has become a platform. Standing atop this platform are the drivers who are always the focal point of F1.

From personal to political, everyone has an opinion they can share given the right platform. The drivers sometimes use this platform to bring to our attention the causes they care about.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem spoke about the power of the platform in an exclusive interview.

FIA President on F1 drivers and their public stands

The FIA president sat down with journalist Agnes Carlier during the Monaco GP weekend for an in-depth interview. He addressed multiple agendas- his ideas about how the future should shape up, the stands drivers take now, and how it affects the sport.

While addressing the influence of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, the president said, “Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving. Now, Vettel drives a rainbow bicycle, Lewis is passionate about human rights and Norris addresses mental health. Everybody has the right to think. To me, it is about deciding whether we should impose our believes in something over the sport all the time.”

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem used the jewelry ban as an example and added, “But do I go and pose my beliefs? No. The rules are there, even now there are issues when it comes to – for example- jewellery, I didn’t write that.” 

Hamilton, Vettel, and Norris are among the few drivers that have used their status to bring light to certain issues.

Twitter reacts to Ben Sulayem’s comments

The interview, after being published quickly, caught the eyes of the F1 Twitter fandom. Users on Twitter took his comments with a pinch of salt.

Safe to say the Twitter fandom did not take too kindly to the words of the FIA president, but there are always two sides to the story.

We see some rationality as well. It’s a mixed bag of emotions on Twitter.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the president of FIA is not an exception. The perception of that opinion, however, differs from person to person, and here is Twitter proving the sentence correct.

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