“Need to Be Very Strong in Our Stance”: Months After Reports of Harassment, Lewis Hamilton Shoots Stern Demands to FIA to Avoid Similar Outcome

Imagine you’re attending a Grand Prix weekend. What would you be feeling? Excitement, anticipation, happiness, exhilaration, and occasional worry for your favorite team or driver. These feelings seem about right. But unfortunately, many people at last year’s Austrian GP were exposed to a lot more. And they were negative ones. At the Red Bull Ring last season, the exciting racing action on track was overshadowed by accusations of homophobic and racist abuse, sexist catcalling, and inappropriate touching of female fans as per Sky Sports. This raised a cause for concern for Lewis Hamilton & Co.

Lewis Hamilton has always been a driver for inclusivity and equality in Formula 1. So when he heard about what happened during the race, he understood the gravity of the issue &expressed his disregard for the people responsible. Lewis also urged the FIA to take measures to stop such happenings. Later that month, F1 launched the “Drive It Out” campaign to help drive out verbal and online abuse toward spectators, journalists, presenters, and drivers in the sport. As F1 returns to the Austrian scene a year later, Hamilton reemphasized the importance of a safe environment.

Lewis Hamilton doesn’t want a repeat of last year

The Austrian GP is Red Bull’s home race. But given the country’s cultural similarities to The Netherlands, Max Verstappen has enormous support from the Orage Army at the race every year. While seeing Dutch F1 fans so dedicated to their driver is a sight to see, many of the abuse accusations were directed at the Orange Army. 

While talking to Sky Sports about last year’s events, he expressed how sad the news made him. He said, “I do know that Formula 1 has taken action to make some changes here this weekend, but I still feel there is work that needs to be done.” He’s referring to F1 beefing up the security at the circuit to ensure that fans don’t bring alcohol, which was a contributing factor in the abuse last season. 

Although he appreciates the steps taken, he’s aware that more can and should be done. But it’s not all up to F1, either. “Ultimately, potentially, the same group of people could turn up, and we just need to be very strong in our stance of how we expect people to be within this space that’s inclusive for anybody.” He hopes what happened last year was a one-off situation, but if it were to happen again, the seven-time champion has urged the FIA to strengthen its measures to ensure F1 becomes an abuse-free environment. 

Read More: Amid Climate of Fear, Lewis Hamilton Denounces Oppression to Celebrate Pride Month With Heartfelt Demand

While doing his best to ensure on-track inclusivity and safety, he’s also used his influence on social media to further his cause for inclusivity.

Lewis Hamilton shows his support for the LGBTQIA+ community

Hamilton has made it clear time and again that, as crucial as F1 is to him, the welfare of the sport’s fans is just as important. Every year, June is celebrated as Pride Month, and Hamilton posted a story on Instagram urging people to celebrate love and equality not just this month but every month of the year. 

In a cause that is so close to his heart, Red Bull joined him in celebrating Pride Month too. The Milton Keynes outfit invited Racing Pride ambassadors to talk to their staff about why inclusion is essential. Racing Pride is an international group that promotes LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the motorsport industry, and Red Bull recently joined it.

F1 and the motorsport industry are doing all they can to promote inclusivity and make races safe for spectators. With the efforts taken at the Red Bull Ring this season, Hamilton and F1, in general, would like to have a better environment this time out.

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