Lewis Hamilton’s Closest Ally Valtteri Bottas Rushes to His Rescue Amid Controversial Fia Muzzle: “They Want to Control Us”

Lewis Hamilton has had a real impact on Formula 1’s functioning over the last decade or so. Apart from using his fame for his personal gains, the Briton has also made the best use of his power towards social causes, as he has rallied behind several causes such as Black Lives Matter, animal rights, human rights, etc. And this rallying has also changed the perspectives of some not-so-political drivers.

But as the advent of 2023 was on the horizon, the FIA introduced new rules prohibiting drivers from “make and show political, religious and personal positions or comments that go against the FIA’s neutral principles,” unless approved otherwise. Following the introduction, Lewis Hamilton hit back against the said rule, as he has done with other personal regulations.

Adding to the list of drivers opposing the FIA mandate and backing Lewis, is possibly his closest friend on the grid, Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri Bottas, as quoted by Expressen.se, commented, “Personally, I don’t like politics. I like to do what I love, which is racing, but politics is also part of today’s society. I think Formula One has done a good job of drawing attention to some of these types of issues and many drivers have raised their voices, including Sebastian.”

“I don’t understand why they want to control us. I think we should have the right to talk about what we want. That’s how I look at it all, but we’ll see what happens.”

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The measure has come into force as of January 1, 2023. But will it be impactful and successful in implication, given the resilience and freedom that drivers have?

FIA’s half-hearted justification for the mandate

The mandate restricting the political stances, which would include Lewis Hamilton’s Black Lives Matter and Sebastian Vettel’s position on same-sex marriage, will be restricted from now on. However, the punishment for a violation remains unknown, possibly leaving drivers more determined than ever.

After the backlash by the fans and Lewis Hamilton, an FIA spokesperson earlier issued a statement, as quoted by the GP Blog, saying, “The ISC has been updated in alignment with the political neutrality of sport as a universal fundamental ethical principle of the Olympic Movement, enshrined in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Code of Ethics, together with the principle of the universality set out in Article 1.2.”

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In addition, the FIA promised to promote diversity and inclusivity from its viewpoint, which appears contradictory given that the drivers’ support would be complementary to its actions. Given the support from fans for the drivers, it seems it will only be a matter of time before the rule is tested.