LEWIS HAMILTON and Co were able to take the knee before the British GP after the farce in Hungary.
A shambolic showing at the Hungaroring last month saw drivers kneel before the entire group had arrived, while Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi forgot to wear his ‘END RACISM’ t-shirt.
Lewis Hamilton leads the protest by taking the knee before the British Formula One Grand Prix while others stand motionlessCredit: AP:Associated Press
Seven drivers remain standing as Lewis Hamilton and Co kneel at Silverstone
Plans were put in place to send a clear message at Silverstone.
And they paid off, with drivers given enough time to take a knee in a unified fight against racism.
Seven racers remained standing but all drivers wore an ‘END RACISM’ T-shirt, apart from Hamilton whose top read ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’.
On the starting grid and only some bend the kneeCredit: AP:Associated Press
Two drivers take the knee but others defiantly reject the movementCredit: Reuters
Lewis Hamilton, who has fought to raise awareness of racism in F1, was joined by fellow Brit Lando Norris.
It is not mandatory to kneel and some F1 stars have cited political reasons for their decision to stay standing.
Hamilton, 35, insists he doesn’t want his rivals to “feel forced” to kneel.
After last month’s Austrian GP, when six drivers stayed standing, he said: “I don’t want it to be a case of people feeling forced. I want people to be excited to be a part of the change.
“I want people to think that while they are fortunate not to have experienced racism, they can try to understand what it feels like and that they don’t want people to feel that way and want to be part of change so in the future our kids can lead a better quality of life.”
Brit Norris, 20, said: “We are united in agreeing with what we support as a community of F1 drivers.
“Whether we do take the knee or we don’t take the knee, that is not the question. I don’t think that needs to be the reason why people judge some of us to be in support of it or not. We all support it.
“Some people want to do different things, but we are all in agreement that we want to take a stand and show support of what we’re trying to do against racism.”
It follows the embarrassment at the Hungary GP when Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi forgot to wear his ‘END RACISM’ T-shirt.
Hamilton has worn a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and has been highly vocal in wanting to highlight the problems of racism within F1 and wider society.
After his win in the Styrian Grand Prix, he raised his fist aloft on the podium in a Black Power salute.
Hamilton is the only black driver in F1.
Footballers in the Premier League have been taking the knee since the restart following the death of George Floyd in America.
Scottish footballers did likewise when their new season reopened yesterday.
The first person to take this stand was NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
He sat and later knelt during the USA national anthem to raise awareness that black people were not being treated fairly in society.
Former Formula One star Adrian Sutil destroys £1.2m McLaren Senna LM supercar in Monaco
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
