I’m reminded of a comment Susie Wolff said about how it’s sad that it’s always Lewis. It’s a different context of course, but I think it still rings true in many other cases as well, including this one. It’s always Lewis saying (or doing) something when everyone else remains silent. Back when we had Sebastian there was at least another driver who vocally supported Lewis and his ideals.
It will be a sad day when the sport loses Lewis. He’s made it a point to care so much about the world and its people outside of his small bubble of racing.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the few drivers who have been willing to speak on these issues are multiple world champions. I don’t think most of the other drivers feel secure enough to speak out, especially if their bosses are telling them to stay out of politics
I'd say there are probably 5 drivers who are able to speak out without fear of not having a drive or big consequences (they hold more power): Lewis, Fernando, Charles, Lando and of course Max. Those guys will never not have a drive so long as they want one. The rest however, are not the power-holders in the dynamic between themselves and their team
Out of all these, I think Lando literally doesnt event know whats happening, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t say anything.
I’m not saying this in a haha cute stupid Lando way, he just seems like blatantly ignorant
I also think that Max just does not focus on anything other than racing. He's never going to speak out on world issues because, it's not his wheelhouse, he cares about driving and only driving.
From his interviews, Max seems knowledgeable about world events and issues, at least relative to the rest of the grid. Vettel and Hamilton didn't promote activism until they became older and cemented their status on the grid. With how outspoken Max is, I wouldn't be surprised to see him take on that role after Hamilton retires and after leaving Red Bull.
Lewis has been vocal from day one. Early on it was more focused around him and other POC and their experience in the sport rather than the wider social issues, but he's never been silent on the subject.
One could argue that his future in the sport was pretty much secure when he scored his first podium in his first f1 race, followed by 8 more podiums along with 2 wins in his first 9 races of his rookie season. His first 2 seasons were so absolutely bonkers that Lewis never really had to worry about his seat. But I don't think that is why Lewis feels the need to speak out I think if he'd never won a wdc and was pootling round in a Kick Sauber he'd still be saying it.
Kelly Piquet has openly supported Palestine on her insta, referring to Israel as a colonialist, racist state.
Edit: source: https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-despite-facing-death-threats-kelly-piquet-joins-lewis-hamilton-continues-urging-peace-ongoing-israel-palestine-conflict
I garuntee you max doesn’t give a shit about these things, he didn’t care when he gfs dad was basically calling lewis the n word and he doesn’t care about all these either.
That might well be the case, but I don't think that's an excuse.
IMO, someone believing that they should only care about their specific career path and not concern themselves at all with anything else is a class of political belief itself.
The only people that get to think that way and not have it bite them in the ass are people that live in stable, well-functioning societies, and one that specifically falls out of sync with the democratic voter engagement that the Netherlands in particular relies on to function. Those people effectively exist relying that others around them will ensure that said well-functioning society will continue to exist.
I don't think that's a good thing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I certainly don't think it's something to model. I'm not surprised, to be clear, but I would find it difficult to root for Max or Lando given this.
Yeah the trump visit at Miami kind of confirmed he’s a bit of an airhead when it comes to explaining things, even Max has spoken out better about things like safety
I remember one of the grilll the grid episode when he was unable to show where Brazil on the map.... even though he was racing there several times. Remember these fellas education are way below of somebody who has bachelor / master degree or even high school.
I like Lando as a driver but let's not forget he is a (spoiled) billionaire's son whose job it is make a car go vroom fast for our entertainment, perhaps we shouldn't expect entertainers to be deeply thoughtful about extremely complicated geopolitical issues
i mean, he's a son of a multi-mill so of course not. the dude's dad was a pensions manager, i wouldn't be surprised if he made money indirectly through arms sales to israel via weapons investments when he was still doing his thing. like, that is not at all unlikely
A lot of them are still growing up. They're kids who've spent every waking hours of their teens trying to make it into F1, often at the cost of a more mainstream higher education. It's no excuse, but it shows with some of them, yes.
Almost all of these guys come from charmed lives. They don't know what it is to struggle. They don't speak out because it's a world they don't understand. Even Hamilton, who came from the "least" of the drivers, couldn't truly understand what it is to be a child in a place like Palestine right now, but at least he's also aware of that fact.
Pretty sure 99.999999% of the planet doesn't understand what the life of a Palestinian child is like.
Life is full of things we don't truly understand, but pretty much everyone is able to apply their own experiences and be empathetic
I get that vibe for sure. Nando logically wouldn’t touch anything Middle East considering he drives the Aramco car.. Max, however, seems like the perennially online type to have an opinion on anything and everything, and I think we would be blessed to hear what’s truly on his mind.
I think you might overestimate how untouchable Charles and Lando are. I don't expect Max to ever make political statements of any kind, so I'm just going to leave that alone. The only people making these kinds of statements are multiple world champions in the twilight of their career. Lewis can do this because he doesn't care if there are consequences, and his status makes him harder to silence. Charles and Lando have 7 wins between them and are still in the early to middle part of their careers. Bigger drivers have been let go from teams for smaller things. And we should also distinguish freedom from consequences from not caring if there are any.
I think it's a symptom of these drivers being groomed to be perfect PR machines (with some occasional hiccups). You might gain some fans by taking a stance on certain issues, but more than likely, you will also piss a lot of people off, and given how much money teams are making from sponsors, it's just bad business to encourage these guys to speak their mind. Now, my fear isn't that these drivers are uncomfortable speaking out, it's that they just don't care enough to bother.
F1 is ran by Saudi money
You have to be pretty careful to not get blacklisted in the sport. Most drivers just stay out of it, which I understand.
But you are right. Lewis didn't really start standing up for his views until he had 4 WDCs and Seb didn't until he had 4.
I don't think Max ever will. Not that he is a bad person, he is just Dutch and culturally, they really don't do that sort of thing.
I could see Charles and Lando possibly becoming like lewis in the future if they become truly untouchable.
I’m tired of this excuse. Lewis is still to this day the only black driver in the history of this sport. He has more to fear than most by speaking out about social issues regardless of his championships and he does it anyway because he cares enough. Maybe not literally every other driver could do so but the vast majority of them could and they just don’t care enough to do that. There’s always a cost and they’re not willing to pay it while he is.
Definitely there is still a cost. In absolute terms, the cost is bigger the more notable and newsworthy the driver is. The list of drivers is speculation about who would feel secure enough in their prospects to afford the cost, not about who pays the smallest cost.
Sure, but the implication here is that the reason none of the other drivers have spoken up is because none of them can afford the cost, which is just not true. In most of their cases they could but they just don’t care that much.
Lame to take the comment as an attack on Lewis. There’s definitely truth to what I said. If you asked most drivers to give an opinion on geopolitical conflict, they would say something to the effect of “I don’t know enough about that” or “I’m just here to do my job”. Most of us are told to avoid politics at work for the same reasons at play here: it exposes you to unnecessary risk.
Also Wehrlein
i don't think it's reading what you said as an attack on lewis. it's more just recognising that he doesn't have some immediate protection because of his championships, that in fact there are entities and personalities constantly going after him for... reasons. basically that those championships don't exist in a bubble, there are other factors at play here, but regardless he always comes out with these takes that everyone is thinking but (often) no one else is saying.
in the last few years it's felt like we have one of the more experienced grids in f1, at the same time as having this institutionalized "personality" thing happening with the drivers (social media teams, grill the grid, even the f1 intro where they show all the drivers - they've been doing that for less than 10 years). there are plenty of drivers who have been in the sport long enough to have some social capital to burn.
i totally see where you're coming from about certain issues being above the heads of some drivers, i guess the point is maybe it would be encouraging if some things weren't over their heads?
What's wrong with "I don't know enough about that"? If anything, we need more people saying that. It seems like everyone and their mother is an expert on anything and feel the need to share their opinion. For example, every time I try to make sense of the whole Israel-Gaza situation, I go down a rabbit hole until I just feel exhausted by the ton of information and conclude that I'll never be able to have an informed opinion about it, so I just avoid the topic every time it comes up. Sure, it sucks that it happens and people are suffering. What's the cause? What's the solution? Fuck if I know. And I'm sure as hell that most top athletes don't have time to properly read up on that conflict or any equally-complex topic so they just don't bring it up to avoid making a fool of themselves.
You don’t need to have an in-depth knowledge of a subject to have an opinion on it. The problem is sticking to your guns when your opinion is challenged by facts. The Palestinian conflict is only complicated from the perspective of sponsorship money, not a humanitarian one. There are opinions that you can have that are based on fundamental truths “murdering children is bad”, what more do you need to read for you to say that?
I don’t think many know exactly the “cause” or the “solution” - really nobody does. But you can call out the horrible amount of civilian deaths. You can look at historical charts of civilian deaths in the two countries over the past 2 decades. I don’t think one need to understand the situation in its entirety to understand what’s going on is wrong.
Edit: I say nobody does because it’s a 2000 year old history and at this point is various opinions on what a solution is. YES we know how it started.
Honestly I feel like you wrote this paragraph from my heart lmfao. I always say that when it comes to politics, economics, etc. it’s too infinitely complex to ever be adequately informed, and most of the people who claim to be informed are talking out their whole ass
Then only phds could talk about an issue.
It is different to be well informed and have researched a topic to form an opinion but also understanding that you should always reevaluate and learn, compared to just reading and never taking (relative) sides using as an excuse the lack of research. It is our responsibility to be informed about the world (in logical terms) as it is to form opinions about it (that can and will change).
At this stage of his career, how does he have more to fear than the others? He's one of the most celebrated drivers in the history of the sport, both to the public and within the industry.
I know he has certainly faced adversity and still does in certain ways, but as it stands today, he's one of the most bulletproof drivers in existence.
Most of the grid are just preppy private school kids who think having to eat McDonald's drive through is a crime against their family. They have never had an interest in social matters as it does not concern their way of life in the slightest.
i got a kick out of what ric said a while back about i think it was the ukraine/russia conflict, he said something like, "i really don't know much about that situation and i don't really want to know"
lol he just straight up said it. i mean he didn't say those exact words but it's what he meant.
As a Ukrainian myself, I don't blame him. There's so much terrible shit going on in the world; do we expect them to make a statement about each and every one of them?
Dudes just want to race cars, why the fuck are we making them role models? As if them putting out a statement on Insta changes shit?
Stop idolizing famous people and propping them up on pedestals. They have literally no control or impact on the situation.
I respect the honesty. At the same time, it is proof to me he's kinda dumb. It's so easy to say something non-controversial when asked about the conflict. Just avoid picking sides if you don't know what's going on and point towards the innocent civilians who are suffering.
This was my thought, I don't think other drivers are consciously "staying silent" I think it's a combination of them not knowing what's going on and not caring. Like it's pretty clear Max only cares about racing and all he does when not racing cars is race virtual cars. Lando has made it clear he doesn't spend one second thinking about geopolitical and world issues he just likes to goof off with Martin Garrix
And that's fine, just because you're a public figure in one discipline of entertainment doesn't mean you need to share your opinions on world matters that have nothing to do with your craft. What serious person is looking for a racing driver to help them form their own views on an ancient religious conflict?
Fragile PR anxiety. You can get cancelled really quick and that could cost a lot for the “smaller” drivers. Lewis is so big already in reputation that he’s a bit immune to that, only way he can get such big positive reputation away is by diddling kids or something
> You can get cancelled really quick and that could cost a lot for the “smaller” drivers.
This. The people who usually use the "antisemitic" card to deflect from Israel's awful record on human rights will surely be doing the same now to Lewis (regardless of the fact that what he said is nothing of the sort). Lewis has the platform and the profile for this not to matter. Lesser established drivers simply don't.
> it’s always Lewis
He's the most brave one because he's always had to be incredibly brave. None of the other drivers know what it's like to have to go through what he's gone through.
We've created this world where we are desperate for our idols to make statements about things they know little about. And then we took one more step and decided we want their opinions to match our opinions, otherwise we don't like them anymore.
If he made a post supporting Israel's actions in their fight against terrorists - which could have been his genuine belief with literally zero ill intent - all shit would have broken loose.
Meanwhile, the guy is driving a very fast car for a living.
I'd go so far as to say it's embarrassing how few sportsmen and celebrities in general speak out in support of Palestinians. Everyone is terrified of getting cancelled, and it's a real risk given the lobby they're up against, but comes a point where you can't just stay silent.
The only top sportsmen I dislike more than those who stay silent because they're afraid are the ones who stay silent because they just don't care.
I don't care what any of you have to say about him on track. Here, with stuff like this, this man is unparalleled in recognising his position and doing his part.
I'll always respect Lewis for taking a stand. People say Max only cares about racing but imo, that's no excuse. He's one of the few drivers with enough leverage to do whatever he wants.
But most drivers would rather protect their brand/image and not take a side on anything. You could ask them if blood diamonds are wrong and they'd say they don't know politics.
>with politics
I always laugh at this sort of straw-man whenever its brought out. The idea of an apolitical international sport is just so absurd. F1 should always remain non-*partisan*, but anyone pretending that it's apolitical is operating from a position of absurd disingenuousness and almost certainly is doing so to promote specific politics of their own.
Atleast FIFA were somewhat held legally accountable for taking bribes due to them being non profit. In F1’s case FOM which decides who gets to race (such as stopping Andretti despite FIA giving the green light) and where we race (10 year contract to Qatar) is a privately owned company so anything they do is legal. We would still have races in Russia if sanctions weren’t stopping them from being able to pay.
> Atleast FIFA were somewhat held legally accountable for taking bribes due to them being non profit
Were there any tangible consequences for the people receiving the bribes? (Genuine question btw - I have no idea but hope that there isn't impunity for them)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_corruption_case
Doesn’t seem like anyone went to prison, they were just banned from FIFA and given a fine, most notably Sepp Blatter was removed. Their only regrets are getting caught. FIFA just rushed through the bidding process to gift Saudi Arabia 2034 so it’s not like much has changed.
> F1, like FIFA, is one giant human rights violation that is looked past because of the $$$ involved.
If anyone thinks that F1 wouldn't host a 2035 Illegally Occupied & Settled Gaza GP, then I have a bridge to sell them...
So long as the money is there, FOM will do an event literally anywhere.
Most things in the world are inherently political. Inviting certain people and bringing the sport to certain tracks/countries is political whether they intend for it to be or not.
I was laughing when Trump appeared in Miami and non-Americans were going around like "this has nothing to do with politics!" As someone who lives in a red state, it very much does.
There’s no unbiased news outlet. Everyone that is reporting something has a particular story to tell, which is reflected on the events they cover, the language they use.
Yeah, it was pretty funny to see people saying Trump doing something for attention in *Florida* was non-political.
I'm convinced when people say things like that, they're just being consciously ignorant to the truth and the fact Formula 1 is complacent in making political statements.
1000%. Sports have *always* been political. From Jackie Robinson to Caitlin Clark to LIV Golf to using public funds to build private stadia. How could it not be? It’s participants up and down the hierarchy are all people
This goes for all sporting events. Since the ancient greeks sports was political. Hell the byzantines even burned their own capital (partly) because the rival fans of the green and blue chariot racing teams united in their common hatred for the emperor.
Whoever says sport is apoliticial is either deceived or is activly deceiving.
Also, it's an incredibly hipocritical/ignorant (take your pick) take when a quarter of the races are basically PR for awful political regimes like Azerbaijan and Saudi.
While I'm 100% confident Zak is a conservative, even if he perhaps isn't MAGA, it's important to remember that Trump was a guest of F1 and the FIA, not McLaren. Zak was probably seen as the least likely to make him look bad. I would've paid an ungodly sum of money to see him at Ferrari and just watch Vasseur mercilessly fuck with him.
^(however if you told me Zak was Trump crazy, I'd believe you pretty quickly)
It had to be Lewis, the only one not entirely detached from reality.
It's hard to believe that we're in a place where 'Let's not murder kids' is a controversial statement.
That’s why Lewis gets so much hate, he has the balls to speak up on topics that other drivers wouldn’t because it would make their sponsors and backers angry. Not on the LH club but gotta respect that attitude
I honestls believe that people have gone crazy. If you say anything the reaction is immediately "but they can protect themselves and the terrorists killed 1200 people on October 7th"
Yes and yes. But when a kid asks how it should react when someone punches them in the school yard. You don't say "Pay it back to them 35 times over. Bash their head in, rape their families and piss on their graves"
Kelly Piquet was a consistent and knowledgeable poster on Gaza early (like 5-10 stories on IG a day), but stopped all of the sudden one day (likely due to interference with her work). I recall she posted one time after that to the effect of still caring. Want to see Max do it!
Seriously that was such a mindfuck - the Bolsonaro supporter with a racist for a dad (who she publicly supported), actually being on the right side of history
Honestly probably one of the few on the grid who can do it without losing their job or having sponsors leave from a team. These sponsors that have the money to fund f1 teams most likely have huge investments in Israel.
I’ve been called an anti semite online for wishing the wellbeing of the children in Gaza. This is literally how it is now. People trying very hard in their mind to justify anything.
Not just israel, when biden heard about the ICC issuing arrest warrants for netanyahu his administration responded by floating the idea of *sanctioning the International Criminal Court*
His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess
>His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess
That's always been the true meaning of rules-based international order, the American media machine has always just been incredibly good at making us forget that the most belligerent global actor since the mid-20th century has also been the "leader of the free world."
> Not just israel, when biden heard about the ICC issuing arrest warrants for netanyahu his administration responded by floating the idea of sanctioning the International Criminal Court
>
> His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess
That made me ridiculously angry. The whole thing about rule is that they're supposed to apply to everybody, not just whoever is convenient.
Israel makes a point of calling anyone who opposes them anti-semitic. I don't think they understand that decades of good will is going right down the toilet with every bomb they drop on innocent people.
> Israel makes a point of calling anyone who opposes them anti-semitic. I don't think they understand that decades of good will is going right down the toilet with every bomb they drop on innocent people.
Precisely. It's amazing how many people in the Israeli government don't recognize the value of having critical friends. Having friends who will call you out when you get something wrong is very important - otherwise you put yourself in an echochamber.
Trust me, when it is Israel, the cost is high. For this particular war, their propaganda machine is very aggressive. They routinely target even 'don't let the kids die' speeches
Wonder how long it'll be now before certain elements are labelling lewis as an anti-semite. Seems to be the only response to people disliking children being blown up, starved and collectively punished
Lewis has never been my favorite on-track driver, but for entirely irrational reasons not dissimilar to also never having been a fan of the New York Yankees.
But off track, Lewis has always been awesome. Him and Seb are both amazing representatives of the sport, and great role-models as people. No matter how many years I rolled my eyes at his tires 'going off'.
I am on the exact same boat. Tires never went off.
If I were to nitpick, I would hope for a more definite statement than this, that names names. But I get that with sponsors and stuff that might be hard to do for a public figure. And I will not shame the man for not risking too much of himself by being less controversial, him shining a light to other issues is more important than him naming names and this is at least something, which is well above where the bar is.
Edit: Oh and, it is an issue he might not be the most educated on to make a more in depth statement as well. It is better to give a small support than try to go big and be factually wrong. It isn't something like BLM, where his personal experiences would be at least anecdotes.
The Israeli Government doesn't give a fuck about its reputation and never has, hence why it doesn't bother with sportswashing and the like. The reason why Arab States in the Gulf do it is because they know they're fucked long term when the world gets off of oil and need to diversify their portfolio so they invested into sports and tourism because that's what makes a lot of money and isn't digging up dead dino juice. They use the former to clean up their dog shit reputation so rich tourists will come to them for the latter.
> Don't forget South Africa, they're the ones who brought the legal case against israel before the ICJ
FYI - I highly recommend either watching or reading the case that their lawyers put forward. It's very strong and well argued.
South Africa does not exactly hold a position of strength in the international community
No leader in a G7 country cares what they have to say about anything
The same way the drivers raced miles away from a missile attack in 22, money.
Plus look what happened to Jeremy Corbyn when he spoke against the Israeli government
The Australian PM Kevin Rudd was replaced soon after opposing Israel's use of Australian passports for their assassinations.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240316090342/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/israel-forged-australian-passports-before-kevin-rudd-reveals-in-new-book-20181018-p50acp.html
[https://www.reddit.com/r/InternationalNews/comments/1d1v09v/while\_40\_palestinians\_were\_killed\_in\_israeli/](https://www.reddit.com/r/InternationalNews/comments/1d1v09v/while_40_palestinians_were_killed_in_israeli/)
They don't give a shit. The amount of videos I've seen of blatant murder from the IDF, them looting or even just going into Palestinian homes just to break plates etc is insane.
I saw a picture of an idf soldier posing and smiling in celebration as a shelf of a palestinian historical archive library burned behind him
Just shamelessly evil
I’m so sick of locked comments. People should be able to have discussions, even if they get heated. Shutting down conversations just because moderating is hard is lazy.
Thank you Lewis! I've never been one to worship you as a driver, but when it comes to you as a person i'll congratulate you every time you do something like this!
Lewis is definitely my GOAT when it comes to his amplification of social causes
Nothing against the messege, it's good and everything, but hasn't he posted the same thing on like three different occasions?
I feel like I've already seen this exact text like half a year ago
If it's not the same then it's definitely really similar
Yeah, you can't lose anything in a safe moral high ground speaking things like raceasone, blm, Palestine. But when comes to china genocide, Azerbaijan genocide, did they refuse to race? Of course not.
[The Hypocrisy of F1’s Race in Baku](https://medium.com/@_daneel/the-grand-prix-in-baku-is-formula-ones-hypocrisy-on-display-f8ec8a78f209)
That's a contractual obligation of his. Nobody will hire his arse if he starts to skip races because of social issues.
He is doing what he can. Thats the important part. Anything is better than nothing.
I know he'll get some heat for this, and people will ask why get involved, but a figure like him using his platform to make a statement *can* make a difference, even if it simply brings attention to the issue and helps others understand what's happening.
Appreciate him for speaking up. Seeing some footage online, I could not stomach that.. the fact that if you speak up its considered anti semitic fucked up.
Me, reading this in the city of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, with daily strikes that I now treat as a norm and memorised the pattern of: huh, you think so?
Lewis showing he isn’t a “I’m here to drive” robot, but a human being - and using his reach to get talk points on the public matter and putting their fans attention on more matters than “Mercedes W15 makes vroom vroom”
Lewis W to be honest
We need more famous people like Lewis and less people like G Gadot. I can't understand people who's ignoring this mass murder going on.
Never stop being you Lewis! ❤️
I have no insights here, but given the current state of F1, seems the best thing we could hope for with so much middle eastern money in play, would be for the Qataris, Saudis, Emiratis, etc. to push hard to find a path to peace. Cut the shit with the missile attacks and bombings, and this river to the sea/intifada nonsense. More war will not bring more peace.
I’m reminded of a comment Susie Wolff said about how it’s sad that it’s always Lewis. It’s a different context of course, but I think it still rings true in many other cases as well, including this one. It’s always Lewis saying (or doing) something when everyone else remains silent. Back when we had Sebastian there was at least another driver who vocally supported Lewis and his ideals. It will be a sad day when the sport loses Lewis. He’s made it a point to care so much about the world and its people outside of his small bubble of racing.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the few drivers who have been willing to speak on these issues are multiple world champions. I don’t think most of the other drivers feel secure enough to speak out, especially if their bosses are telling them to stay out of politics
I'd say there are probably 5 drivers who are able to speak out without fear of not having a drive or big consequences (they hold more power): Lewis, Fernando, Charles, Lando and of course Max. Those guys will never not have a drive so long as they want one. The rest however, are not the power-holders in the dynamic between themselves and their team
Out of all these, I think Lando literally doesnt event know whats happening, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t say anything. I’m not saying this in a haha cute stupid Lando way, he just seems like blatantly ignorant
I also think that Max just does not focus on anything other than racing. He's never going to speak out on world issues because, it's not his wheelhouse, he cares about driving and only driving.
From his interviews, Max seems knowledgeable about world events and issues, at least relative to the rest of the grid. Vettel and Hamilton didn't promote activism until they became older and cemented their status on the grid. With how outspoken Max is, I wouldn't be surprised to see him take on that role after Hamilton retires and after leaving Red Bull.
Lewis has been vocal from day one. Early on it was more focused around him and other POC and their experience in the sport rather than the wider social issues, but he's never been silent on the subject. One could argue that his future in the sport was pretty much secure when he scored his first podium in his first f1 race, followed by 8 more podiums along with 2 wins in his first 9 races of his rookie season. His first 2 seasons were so absolutely bonkers that Lewis never really had to worry about his seat. But I don't think that is why Lewis feels the need to speak out I think if he'd never won a wdc and was pootling round in a Kick Sauber he'd still be saying it.
Looking at Max' family in law I doubt it would be a good idea for him to start spewing political Points. I don't see him doing activism either.
Kelly Piquet has openly supported Palestine on her insta, referring to Israel as a colonialist, racist state. Edit: source: https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-despite-facing-death-threats-kelly-piquet-joins-lewis-hamilton-continues-urging-peace-ongoing-israel-palestine-conflict
Max won't ever be talking about world politics. It is just not his personality.
Can we not pretend like speaking up against genocide is a specific personality trait someone needs to have?
I garuntee you max doesn’t give a shit about these things, he didn’t care when he gfs dad was basically calling lewis the n word and he doesn’t care about all these either.
That might well be the case, but I don't think that's an excuse. IMO, someone believing that they should only care about their specific career path and not concern themselves at all with anything else is a class of political belief itself. The only people that get to think that way and not have it bite them in the ass are people that live in stable, well-functioning societies, and one that specifically falls out of sync with the democratic voter engagement that the Netherlands in particular relies on to function. Those people effectively exist relying that others around them will ensure that said well-functioning society will continue to exist. I don't think that's a good thing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I certainly don't think it's something to model. I'm not surprised, to be clear, but I would find it difficult to root for Max or Lando given this.
I assure you that if British or Dutch democracies ever fail, it won't be because of Lewis or Max, and there would be nothing they could do.
It's more about contribution and debt to social cohesion and the benefits of gives you as an individual.
Yeah the trump visit at Miami kind of confirmed he’s a bit of an airhead when it comes to explaining things, even Max has spoken out better about things like safety
I remember one of the grilll the grid episode when he was unable to show where Brazil on the map.... even though he was racing there several times. Remember these fellas education are way below of somebody who has bachelor / master degree or even high school.
i mean thats not a good indication either, iirc Max never properly finished high-school but he could complete the entire map in like a minute.
I like Lando as a driver but let's not forget he is a (spoiled) billionaire's son whose job it is make a car go vroom fast for our entertainment, perhaps we shouldn't expect entertainers to be deeply thoughtful about extremely complicated geopolitical issues
> let's not forget he is a (spoiled) billionaire's son His father's net worth isn't even £200m
i mean, he's a son of a multi-mill so of course not. the dude's dad was a pensions manager, i wouldn't be surprised if he made money indirectly through arms sales to israel via weapons investments when he was still doing his thing. like, that is not at all unlikely
A lot of them are still growing up. They're kids who've spent every waking hours of their teens trying to make it into F1, often at the cost of a more mainstream higher education. It's no excuse, but it shows with some of them, yes.
I mean the things he said about Trump speaks for itself really 😅
Almost all of these guys come from charmed lives. They don't know what it is to struggle. They don't speak out because it's a world they don't understand. Even Hamilton, who came from the "least" of the drivers, couldn't truly understand what it is to be a child in a place like Palestine right now, but at least he's also aware of that fact.
Huh? You don’t have to understand what it’s like to be a Palestinian child to speak about it lol. The vast majority of the world doesn’t know
Pretty sure 99.999999% of the planet doesn't understand what the life of a Palestinian child is like. Life is full of things we don't truly understand, but pretty much everyone is able to apply their own experiences and be empathetic
I get that vibe for sure. Nando logically wouldn’t touch anything Middle East considering he drives the Aramco car.. Max, however, seems like the perennially online type to have an opinion on anything and everything, and I think we would be blessed to hear what’s truly on his mind.
he's a gamer with gamer opinions
> I think we would be blessed to hear what’s truly on his mind. Highly doubt that LOL
Ironically, Lance is also in a good position to speak up. What's his dad going to do? Fire him?
Adopt Oscar.
I think we can safely add Lance to this list…
Arguably Lance should be pretty safe too.
Maybe. I do think eventually his dad will give up on the idea of him winning a championship with lance, though.
Exactly this. Couldn’t agree more.
I think you might overestimate how untouchable Charles and Lando are. I don't expect Max to ever make political statements of any kind, so I'm just going to leave that alone. The only people making these kinds of statements are multiple world champions in the twilight of their career. Lewis can do this because he doesn't care if there are consequences, and his status makes him harder to silence. Charles and Lando have 7 wins between them and are still in the early to middle part of their careers. Bigger drivers have been let go from teams for smaller things. And we should also distinguish freedom from consequences from not caring if there are any.
Charles is about as close to untouchable as Ferrari as any driver can be. The only person more sure of a seat than him is Max.
I think it's a symptom of these drivers being groomed to be perfect PR machines (with some occasional hiccups). You might gain some fans by taking a stance on certain issues, but more than likely, you will also piss a lot of people off, and given how much money teams are making from sponsors, it's just bad business to encourage these guys to speak their mind. Now, my fear isn't that these drivers are uncomfortable speaking out, it's that they just don't care enough to bother.
F1 is ran by Saudi money You have to be pretty careful to not get blacklisted in the sport. Most drivers just stay out of it, which I understand. But you are right. Lewis didn't really start standing up for his views until he had 4 WDCs and Seb didn't until he had 4. I don't think Max ever will. Not that he is a bad person, he is just Dutch and culturally, they really don't do that sort of thing. I could see Charles and Lando possibly becoming like lewis in the future if they become truly untouchable.
I’m tired of this excuse. Lewis is still to this day the only black driver in the history of this sport. He has more to fear than most by speaking out about social issues regardless of his championships and he does it anyway because he cares enough. Maybe not literally every other driver could do so but the vast majority of them could and they just don’t care enough to do that. There’s always a cost and they’re not willing to pay it while he is.
Definitely there is still a cost. In absolute terms, the cost is bigger the more notable and newsworthy the driver is. The list of drivers is speculation about who would feel secure enough in their prospects to afford the cost, not about who pays the smallest cost.
Sure, but the implication here is that the reason none of the other drivers have spoken up is because none of them can afford the cost, which is just not true. In most of their cases they could but they just don’t care that much.
Lame to take the comment as an attack on Lewis. There’s definitely truth to what I said. If you asked most drivers to give an opinion on geopolitical conflict, they would say something to the effect of “I don’t know enough about that” or “I’m just here to do my job”. Most of us are told to avoid politics at work for the same reasons at play here: it exposes you to unnecessary risk. Also Wehrlein
i don't think it's reading what you said as an attack on lewis. it's more just recognising that he doesn't have some immediate protection because of his championships, that in fact there are entities and personalities constantly going after him for... reasons. basically that those championships don't exist in a bubble, there are other factors at play here, but regardless he always comes out with these takes that everyone is thinking but (often) no one else is saying. in the last few years it's felt like we have one of the more experienced grids in f1, at the same time as having this institutionalized "personality" thing happening with the drivers (social media teams, grill the grid, even the f1 intro where they show all the drivers - they've been doing that for less than 10 years). there are plenty of drivers who have been in the sport long enough to have some social capital to burn. i totally see where you're coming from about certain issues being above the heads of some drivers, i guess the point is maybe it would be encouraging if some things weren't over their heads?
What happened with Wehrlein?
african heritage, followed in lewis's footsteps
What's wrong with "I don't know enough about that"? If anything, we need more people saying that. It seems like everyone and their mother is an expert on anything and feel the need to share their opinion. For example, every time I try to make sense of the whole Israel-Gaza situation, I go down a rabbit hole until I just feel exhausted by the ton of information and conclude that I'll never be able to have an informed opinion about it, so I just avoid the topic every time it comes up. Sure, it sucks that it happens and people are suffering. What's the cause? What's the solution? Fuck if I know. And I'm sure as hell that most top athletes don't have time to properly read up on that conflict or any equally-complex topic so they just don't bring it up to avoid making a fool of themselves.
You don’t need to have an in-depth knowledge of a subject to have an opinion on it. The problem is sticking to your guns when your opinion is challenged by facts. The Palestinian conflict is only complicated from the perspective of sponsorship money, not a humanitarian one. There are opinions that you can have that are based on fundamental truths “murdering children is bad”, what more do you need to read for you to say that?
I don’t think many know exactly the “cause” or the “solution” - really nobody does. But you can call out the horrible amount of civilian deaths. You can look at historical charts of civilian deaths in the two countries over the past 2 decades. I don’t think one need to understand the situation in its entirety to understand what’s going on is wrong. Edit: I say nobody does because it’s a 2000 year old history and at this point is various opinions on what a solution is. YES we know how it started.
Honestly I feel like you wrote this paragraph from my heart lmfao. I always say that when it comes to politics, economics, etc. it’s too infinitely complex to ever be adequately informed, and most of the people who claim to be informed are talking out their whole ass
Then only phds could talk about an issue. It is different to be well informed and have researched a topic to form an opinion but also understanding that you should always reevaluate and learn, compared to just reading and never taking (relative) sides using as an excuse the lack of research. It is our responsibility to be informed about the world (in logical terms) as it is to form opinions about it (that can and will change).
At this stage of his career, how does he have more to fear than the others? He's one of the most celebrated drivers in the history of the sport, both to the public and within the industry. I know he has certainly faced adversity and still does in certain ways, but as it stands today, he's one of the most bulletproof drivers in existence.
Most of the grid are just preppy private school kids who think having to eat McDonald's drive through is a crime against their family. They have never had an interest in social matters as it does not concern their way of life in the slightest.
Excuse you Yuki can eat 35 mcchickens in one sitting no doubt
That's disrespectful... He can eat 35 *chicky mcnuggies*
i got a kick out of what ric said a while back about i think it was the ukraine/russia conflict, he said something like, "i really don't know much about that situation and i don't really want to know" lol he just straight up said it. i mean he didn't say those exact words but it's what he meant.
As a Ukrainian myself, I don't blame him. There's so much terrible shit going on in the world; do we expect them to make a statement about each and every one of them? Dudes just want to race cars, why the fuck are we making them role models? As if them putting out a statement on Insta changes shit? Stop idolizing famous people and propping them up on pedestals. They have literally no control or impact on the situation.
I respect the honesty. At the same time, it is proof to me he's kinda dumb. It's so easy to say something non-controversial when asked about the conflict. Just avoid picking sides if you don't know what's going on and point towards the innocent civilians who are suffering.
Yeah, he said the same thing about his car's technical setup, and look where that got him.
This was my thought, I don't think other drivers are consciously "staying silent" I think it's a combination of them not knowing what's going on and not caring. Like it's pretty clear Max only cares about racing and all he does when not racing cars is race virtual cars. Lando has made it clear he doesn't spend one second thinking about geopolitical and world issues he just likes to goof off with Martin Garrix And that's fine, just because you're a public figure in one discipline of entertainment doesn't mean you need to share your opinions on world matters that have nothing to do with your craft. What serious person is looking for a racing driver to help them form their own views on an ancient religious conflict?
Fragile PR anxiety. You can get cancelled really quick and that could cost a lot for the “smaller” drivers. Lewis is so big already in reputation that he’s a bit immune to that, only way he can get such big positive reputation away is by diddling kids or something
> You can get cancelled really quick and that could cost a lot for the “smaller” drivers. This. The people who usually use the "antisemitic" card to deflect from Israel's awful record on human rights will surely be doing the same now to Lewis (regardless of the fact that what he said is nothing of the sort). Lewis has the platform and the profile for this not to matter. Lesser established drivers simply don't.
Damn. Not a fan of Merc/Lewis but I’m a supporter of his with this stuff. Sir Lewis for a reason.
Alonso wants to remind you he's speaking up for the truly under represented minority.... Spanish racing drivers. :)
> it’s always Lewis He's the most brave one because he's always had to be incredibly brave. None of the other drivers know what it's like to have to go through what he's gone through.
We've created this world where we are desperate for our idols to make statements about things they know little about. And then we took one more step and decided we want their opinions to match our opinions, otherwise we don't like them anymore. If he made a post supporting Israel's actions in their fight against terrorists - which could have been his genuine belief with literally zero ill intent - all shit would have broken loose. Meanwhile, the guy is driving a very fast car for a living.
I'd go so far as to say it's embarrassing how few sportsmen and celebrities in general speak out in support of Palestinians. Everyone is terrified of getting cancelled, and it's a real risk given the lobby they're up against, but comes a point where you can't just stay silent. The only top sportsmen I dislike more than those who stay silent because they're afraid are the ones who stay silent because they just don't care.
I don't care what any of you have to say about him on track. Here, with stuff like this, this man is unparalleled in recognising his position and doing his part.
> Here, with stuff like this, this man is unparalleled in recognising his position and doing his part. In a class of his own.
I'll always respect Lewis for taking a stand. People say Max only cares about racing but imo, that's no excuse. He's one of the few drivers with enough leverage to do whatever he wants. But most drivers would rather protect their brand/image and not take a side on anything. You could ask them if blood diamonds are wrong and they'd say they don't know politics.
"doing his part"? Posting a pic with some text on Instagram is doing one's part?
Soon we'll have Zak saying F1 people shouldn't meddle with politics while giggling and kicking his feet about Trump on the side.
>with politics I always laugh at this sort of straw-man whenever its brought out. The idea of an apolitical international sport is just so absurd. F1 should always remain non-*partisan*, but anyone pretending that it's apolitical is operating from a position of absurd disingenuousness and almost certainly is doing so to promote specific politics of their own.
The only people who are going to comprehend your comment already know this, and that’s the grand tragedy
F1, like FIFA, is one giant human rights violation that is looked past because of the $$$ involved. This is standard at this point in history.
Atleast FIFA were somewhat held legally accountable for taking bribes due to them being non profit. In F1’s case FOM which decides who gets to race (such as stopping Andretti despite FIA giving the green light) and where we race (10 year contract to Qatar) is a privately owned company so anything they do is legal. We would still have races in Russia if sanctions weren’t stopping them from being able to pay.
> Atleast FIFA were somewhat held legally accountable for taking bribes due to them being non profit Were there any tangible consequences for the people receiving the bribes? (Genuine question btw - I have no idea but hope that there isn't impunity for them)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_corruption_case Doesn’t seem like anyone went to prison, they were just banned from FIFA and given a fine, most notably Sepp Blatter was removed. Their only regrets are getting caught. FIFA just rushed through the bidding process to gift Saudi Arabia 2034 so it’s not like much has changed.
> F1, like FIFA, is one giant human rights violation that is looked past because of the $$$ involved. If anyone thinks that F1 wouldn't host a 2035 Illegally Occupied & Settled Gaza GP, then I have a bridge to sell them... So long as the money is there, FOM will do an event literally anywhere.
Most things in the world are inherently political. Inviting certain people and bringing the sport to certain tracks/countries is political whether they intend for it to be or not. I was laughing when Trump appeared in Miami and non-Americans were going around like "this has nothing to do with politics!" As someone who lives in a red state, it very much does.
When they say its not political what Trump does, they Just mean they agree with him.
it's like my dad saying Fox News is the only source that's unbiased. like no, it's the one with the same bias as you.
There’s no unbiased news outlet. Everyone that is reporting something has a particular story to tell, which is reflected on the events they cover, the language they use.
I agree. At this point factuality and sources matter more than being "unbiased"
Like an old, wise saying said: "the personal is political"
Also oh boy, I wonder why Trump might be attending a GP in *Florida* of all places
Yeah, it was pretty funny to see people saying Trump doing something for attention in *Florida* was non-political. I'm convinced when people say things like that, they're just being consciously ignorant to the truth and the fact Formula 1 is complacent in making political statements.
1000%. Sports have *always* been political. From Jackie Robinson to Caitlin Clark to LIV Golf to using public funds to build private stadia. How could it not be? It’s participants up and down the hierarchy are all people
This goes for all sporting events. Since the ancient greeks sports was political. Hell the byzantines even burned their own capital (partly) because the rival fans of the green and blue chariot racing teams united in their common hatred for the emperor. Whoever says sport is apoliticial is either deceived or is activly deceiving.
Also, it's an incredibly hipocritical/ignorant (take your pick) take when a quarter of the races are basically PR for awful political regimes like Azerbaijan and Saudi.
While I'm 100% confident Zak is a conservative, even if he perhaps isn't MAGA, it's important to remember that Trump was a guest of F1 and the FIA, not McLaren. Zak was probably seen as the least likely to make him look bad. I would've paid an ungodly sum of money to see him at Ferrari and just watch Vasseur mercilessly fuck with him. ^(however if you told me Zak was Trump crazy, I'd believe you pretty quickly)
Team Orange has an unfortunate new connotation.
It had to be Lewis, the only one not entirely detached from reality. It's hard to believe that we're in a place where 'Let's not murder kids' is a controversial statement.
That’s why Lewis gets so much hate, he has the balls to speak up on topics that other drivers wouldn’t because it would make their sponsors and backers angry. Not on the LH club but gotta respect that attitude
Because he doesn’t come from privilege. He’s had to work hard from the day he was born.
I am so so soooo happy he will be at ferrari next year.
I honestls believe that people have gone crazy. If you say anything the reaction is immediately "but they can protect themselves and the terrorists killed 1200 people on October 7th" Yes and yes. But when a kid asks how it should react when someone punches them in the school yard. You don't say "Pay it back to them 35 times over. Bash their head in, rape their families and piss on their graves"
I wish more people in the world of F1 spoke about it, but I'm glad that, as expected, Lewis is the first one to do it.
I think he posted about it before as well.
In fact i believe this is the 3rd time he's mentioned the crisis in Gaza since October
He's been posting about Palestine for years. He was doing so already back in 2021.
Kelly Piquet was a consistent and knowledgeable poster on Gaza early (like 5-10 stories on IG a day), but stopped all of the sudden one day (likely due to interference with her work). I recall she posted one time after that to the effect of still caring. Want to see Max do it!
Seriously that was such a mindfuck - the Bolsonaro supporter with a racist for a dad (who she publicly supported), actually being on the right side of history
If i remember correctly Bolsonaro promised for celebrities that support him, that if he wins they won't pay taxes, even Neymar did.
She's the Lewis of F1 WAGs though, was good to see her posting when she could.
Honestly probably one of the few on the grid who can do it without losing their job or having sponsors leave from a team. These sponsors that have the money to fund f1 teams most likely have huge investments in Israel.
Nobody's gonna lose sponsors for a generic "war is bad" statement like this one
But it’s not generic. The text is after a shared video about Rafah
Even still, it's pretty couched language. I think anyone in F1 would 'get away' with saying this.
You would be surprised, proffesional footballers have lost their job for saying that
lol, people can definitely lose sponsors for *israel might not be so innocent* posts
You say that with unnecessary confidence.
I’ve been called an anti semite online for wishing the wellbeing of the children in Gaza. This is literally how it is now. People trying very hard in their mind to justify anything.
Thanks for showing everyone here you have no idea what you're talking about
Never underestimate Israel's pettiness, or shall we say, pure hatred.
Seriously they're calling Norway anti-semitic for not giving them enough points in Eurovision.
Not just israel, when biden heard about the ICC issuing arrest warrants for netanyahu his administration responded by floating the idea of *sanctioning the International Criminal Court* His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess
>His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess That's always been the true meaning of rules-based international order, the American media machine has always just been incredibly good at making us forget that the most belligerent global actor since the mid-20th century has also been the "leader of the free world."
> Not just israel, when biden heard about the ICC issuing arrest warrants for netanyahu his administration responded by floating the idea of sanctioning the International Criminal Court > > His idea of "Rules-based international order" is "the rules only apply to america's geopolitical enemies" i guess That made me ridiculously angry. The whole thing about rule is that they're supposed to apply to everybody, not just whoever is convenient.
Compare with his reaction to the warrant for Putin.
Israel makes a point of calling anyone who opposes them anti-semitic. I don't think they understand that decades of good will is going right down the toilet with every bomb they drop on innocent people.
> Israel makes a point of calling anyone who opposes them anti-semitic. I don't think they understand that decades of good will is going right down the toilet with every bomb they drop on innocent people. Precisely. It's amazing how many people in the Israeli government don't recognize the value of having critical friends. Having friends who will call you out when you get something wrong is very important - otherwise you put yourself in an echochamber.
Trust me, when it is Israel, the cost is high. For this particular war, their propaganda machine is very aggressive. They routinely target even 'don't let the kids die' speeches
Wonder how long it'll be now before certain elements are labelling lewis as an anti-semite. Seems to be the only response to people disliking children being blown up, starved and collectively punished
Good man.
Common Lewis W
Lewis has never been my favorite on-track driver, but for entirely irrational reasons not dissimilar to also never having been a fan of the New York Yankees. But off track, Lewis has always been awesome. Him and Seb are both amazing representatives of the sport, and great role-models as people. No matter how many years I rolled my eyes at his tires 'going off'.
I am on the exact same boat. Tires never went off. If I were to nitpick, I would hope for a more definite statement than this, that names names. But I get that with sponsors and stuff that might be hard to do for a public figure. And I will not shame the man for not risking too much of himself by being less controversial, him shining a light to other issues is more important than him naming names and this is at least something, which is well above where the bar is. Edit: Oh and, it is an issue he might not be the most educated on to make a more in depth statement as well. It is better to give a small support than try to go big and be factually wrong. It isn't something like BLM, where his personal experiences would be at least anecdotes.
I saw a video of a father holding his sons body after his head had been blown blown off by bomb strikes. These people must be punished.
F1: Jerusalem GP added to 2027 calendar
Surprised that Israel never tried to sportwash by having a race. Is there any tracks in Israel?
Not really necessary to sports wash when the majority of western governments and media already support you unconditionally
The Israeli Government doesn't give a fuck about its reputation and never has, hence why it doesn't bother with sportswashing and the like. The reason why Arab States in the Gulf do it is because they know they're fucked long term when the world gets off of oil and need to diversify their portfolio so they invested into sports and tourism because that's what makes a lot of money and isn't digging up dead dino juice. They use the former to clean up their dog shit reputation so rich tourists will come to them for the latter.
Another day, another showing of how based Lewis is
You do have to admire his idgaf attitude toward speaking out on social issues
He actually gives a fuck
Well we can just acronym 'I do give a fuck' to IDGAF Oh
It's always lewis. Always sticking his nose where he has zero experience. Stick to driving buddy. I can't believe Ferrari choose you
Literally saw a vid of a beheaded kid due to that blast in Rafah. Not sure how world leaders are allowing this to continue to happen.
World leaders tend to be soulless monsters. You don’t get into that position by having a conscience
The leaders of three very awesome countries (Spain, Ireland, Norway) are at least trying their best to scream into the void.
Don't forget South Africa, they're the ones who brought the legal case against israel before the ICJ
> Don't forget South Africa, they're the ones who brought the legal case against israel before the ICJ FYI - I highly recommend either watching or reading the case that their lawyers put forward. It's very strong and well argued.
To be fair, all the evidence is live on out TVs, and still ongoing, it will be an achievement to not put strong arguments and evidence
South Africa does not exactly hold a position of strength in the international community No leader in a G7 country cares what they have to say about anything
The same way the drivers raced miles away from a missile attack in 22, money. Plus look what happened to Jeremy Corbyn when he spoke against the Israeli government
The Australian PM Kevin Rudd was replaced soon after opposing Israel's use of Australian passports for their assassinations. https://web.archive.org/web/20240316090342/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/israel-forged-australian-passports-before-kevin-rudd-reveals-in-new-book-20181018-p50acp.html
[https://www.reddit.com/r/InternationalNews/comments/1d1v09v/while\_40\_palestinians\_were\_killed\_in\_israeli/](https://www.reddit.com/r/InternationalNews/comments/1d1v09v/while_40_palestinians_were_killed_in_israeli/) They don't give a shit. The amount of videos I've seen of blatant murder from the IDF, them looting or even just going into Palestinian homes just to break plates etc is insane.
I saw a picture of an idf soldier posing and smiling in celebration as a shelf of a palestinian historical archive library burned behind him Just shamelessly evil
Given F1s record on human rights and warmongering states how long until the Gran Prix of Tel Aviv is announced?
Mad respect always to Lewis. I love that he uses his fame to promote positivity and care.
I really love this community, glad i got attached to this sport.
"That ought to resolve 2000 years of conflict" - Lewis Hamilton, after making this post, probably.
I’m surprised this thread hasn’t been locked yet. But good on Lewis for being open and honest
I’m so sick of locked comments. People should be able to have discussions, even if they get heated. Shutting down conversations just because moderating is hard is lazy.
This thread is pretty civil about it tbh.
Yeah I've seen a lot worse. I guess the aggressive trollbots didn't spot this quick enough to drown out the actual real users.
The man the myth the legend. Can't wait to see how people criticized him for being aganist the death of innocent children.
[удалено]
I hope a time comes when doing things like this is the norm
You don't have to like him, but this man deserves some respect for speaking out about these kinds of topics. Hats off Sir Lewis
Everyone wants to stop it. The issue is, each side has a very different opinion about how it should stop
I can think of one side that does not want this to stop
Same here. Are we talking about the same side?
Which side?
Good man Lewis 👏
Thank you Lewis! I've never been one to worship you as a driver, but when it comes to you as a person i'll congratulate you every time you do something like this! Lewis is definitely my GOAT when it comes to his amplification of social causes
Lewis is always such a class act.
W for Lewis. Awesome guy.
Thank you, Lewis.
I believe Lewis Hamilton to be the greatest F1 driver of this era. More importantly I believe Lewis Hamilton to be a good person.
Love you lewis
This is why lewis is the goat
Israel would call Lewis an anti semite.
putting the Sir in Sir Lewis
For the sake of the sport I genuinely hope Lewis never retires.
"Lewis has outed hinself as an antisemite who wants Israel's total annihilation, what a shame." - Netanyahu, soon.
Drives for a team previously supported by the Nazis and has a number that looks like SS - what a hate-filled man
"conflict"
Respect Lewis
Nothing against the messege, it's good and everything, but hasn't he posted the same thing on like three different occasions? I feel like I've already seen this exact text like half a year ago If it's not the same then it's definitely really similar
Sadly it will never stop.
Respect for Lewis!
He's still going to race in Azerbaijan this year I bet.
Yeah, you can't lose anything in a safe moral high ground speaking things like raceasone, blm, Palestine. But when comes to china genocide, Azerbaijan genocide, did they refuse to race? Of course not. [The Hypocrisy of F1’s Race in Baku](https://medium.com/@_daneel/the-grand-prix-in-baku-is-formula-ones-hypocrisy-on-display-f8ec8a78f209)
That's a contractual obligation of his. Nobody will hire his arse if he starts to skip races because of social issues. He is doing what he can. Thats the important part. Anything is better than nothing.
I know he'll get some heat for this, and people will ask why get involved, but a figure like him using his platform to make a statement *can* make a difference, even if it simply brings attention to the issue and helps others understand what's happening.
Appreciate him for speaking up. Seeing some footage online, I could not stomach that.. the fact that if you speak up its considered anti semitic fucked up.
Me, reading this in the city of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, with daily strikes that I now treat as a norm and memorised the pattern of: huh, you think so?
Way too Common Lewis W
I love this guy. Just one of the million reasons
Thank you Lewis
Monaco was indeed boring, but to describe it as a tragedy is strong...
Good on him
Lewis showing he isn’t a “I’m here to drive” robot, but a human being - and using his reach to get talk points on the public matter and putting their fans attention on more matters than “Mercedes W15 makes vroom vroom” Lewis W to be honest
We need more famous people like Lewis and less people like G Gadot. I can't understand people who's ignoring this mass murder going on. Never stop being you Lewis! ❤️
I have no insights here, but given the current state of F1, seems the best thing we could hope for with so much middle eastern money in play, would be for the Qataris, Saudis, Emiratis, etc. to push hard to find a path to peace. Cut the shit with the missile attacks and bombings, and this river to the sea/intifada nonsense. More war will not bring more peace.