Lewis Hamilton's plan to 'put Middle East's figures of power ON EDGE' over LGBT rights

Lewis Hamilton

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Hamilton's plan to 'put Middle East's figures of power ON EDGE' over LGBT rights

Mercedes driver put human rights first and thanks Sebastian Vettel for doing the same

Lauren Sneath

Thursday 20 April 2023 11:13 Updated: 12:22

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Lewis Hamilton has criticised countries in the Middle East over human rights issues as he expressed gratitude towards ex-Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel for ‘taking the knee’ with him.

In a video on the Mercedes team’s YouTube channel, Hamilton held up a photo of his rainbow-coloured helmet for the 2021 race in Qatar, explaining his reasoning for taking a political stance by showing the LGBT colours.

He said: “For me, it’s mind-blowing that we live in a time still [where there are] particularly lots of human rights issues in the Middle East – [with] women’s rights, LGBT rights, and there are laws that restrict people from being their true selves.

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“I’ve always been a risk taker, and I was like ‘I’m going to do this whether or not they’re going to throw me in jail, I don’t care what they're going to do. I’m going to stand up for something that I believe in, even if it kills me.”

Lewis Hamilton wears his rainbow helmet in Qatar

Hamilton said his motivation was to ‘put those in power on edge’ with the statement, adding: “I know that sounds crazy but it's like I’ve got to do it.

"I need to show people how important it is and spark those conversations out there, and put those in power on edge and feel that they need to have conversations about making change because it brings negativity to their country.”

He said he was driven to win the race by his desire to showcase the issue explaining: “So I did it and I won the race, and my drive was like, I’ve got to get to the top of the podium because that will make the biggest bang and the biggest awareness for it, and I did, so I was really proud of it.”

Hamilton: I was really grateful for Seb

Earlier in the clip, the seven-time world champion explained that in 2020, as the Black Lives Matter movement began to spread through different sports, he had received support from the German driver.

Hamilton said 2020 was a ‘really tough year’ but that he saw Vettel ‘come out of his shell’ to fight for causes he believed in.

He held up a photograph of him wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’ as he stood next to Vettel, who wore a similar shirt showing the phrase ‘End Racism’.

Hamilton explained: “This was in 2020 with Seb, and this was a really this was a huge year for me and I think for the world and for the sport where there was such an uprising and an uproar of people finally standing up and saying ‘enough is enough’ of what was happening around the world.

“It's crazy to think that we still today suffer from hate crimes, from homophobia, from racism, and this was a really tough year because I've gone through this sport as the only person of colour for my whole career and life.

“And I remember coming to the first race and wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and I remember Seb standing by me and taking the knee with me."

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel take a stand in 2020

He explained that Vettel's activism was just beginning, saying: “And then after that, just seeing him grow in terms of the confidence he had to come out of his shell and fight for what he believed in and we basically stood arm and arm against lots of different causes when people said that politics don't belong in sport.

“Human rights is not politics, it's human rights – everyone should be treated equally and one has a right to be treated equally.”

He said that with the ‘huge platform’ the athletes have, it should be used for good, adding: “I was really really grateful for Seb being with me.”