LeBron James’ Revolt Against “Shut Up & Dribble” Paves the Way for Relentless Lewis Hamilton to Fight a “Real” Battle

The FIA invited fans’ fury as it brought into force a controversial rule last month, prohibiting drivers from making political statements without prior permission. The move was seen as a dictatorial order by the fans and a section of stakeholders of the sport. Lewis Hamilton, who is vocal about his worldviews and is a crusader against racial discrimination, was one of them. He recently spoke on the issue and made a comparison with the situation NBA legend LeBron James found himself in, a few years ago.

In light of LeBron’s comments on former POTUS Donald Trump in an interview, Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, in her show, told the former Cavaliers player to refrain from making political statements and “shut up and dribble”. The comments instantly became the talk of the town and sparked debates. Soon enough, Kevin Durant was told to follow suit. In light of these comments, Hamilton recently let his opinion on FIA’s rule known.

GP Fans quoted Hamilton as saying, “Free speech? You know, there are people who say to LeBron James, ‘Shut up and dribble,’ like people put you in a box and say you can only do one thing. and focus on that.” [Translated using Google]

“You know, I was winning but I was missing something: a goal. Why am I here, in F1? Why am I the only person of color? There is a real lack of diversity. Among the drivers but also in the hundreds of trades related to motorsport.”

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Given his commitment to the issue of inclusivity and equality, many doubt whether Lewis will comply. Given what happened during the jewelry ban saga, it is highly unlikely he will.

F1 commentator believes Lewis Hamilton is too big a fish for FIA to control

May it be the issue of racial discrimination or the rights of the members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Hamilton has never shied away from expressing his solidarity. Apart from speaking, he even wears t-shirts and helmets with messages to let his feelings know. F1 commentator Jack Nicholls feels even if F1 puts a million-euro fine to stop him, Hamilton will not comply.

Speaking on the Off The Ball podcast, he said, “is he going to be fussed if he wears the rainbow helmet in Qatar at the start of next season? Is he going to be fussed that he gets a million Euro fine? No, I don’t think so.”

“I think he would do that for that level of publicity that it would get him for that level of awareness that it would raise. So that’s the challenging thing when you have an independent sporting celebrity such as Hamilton. Can the FIA really stop him doing anything he wants? I don’t know.”

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Lewis recently appeared on Jay Shetty’s podcast and spoke candidly on the issues close to his heart. We highly doubt that will change once the new season starts in March.