F1

LEWIS HAMILTON will be allowed to continue his anti-racism campaign ahead of F1 races this season.Last year, the reigning world champion used the moments ahead of the national anthems to highlight causes, such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
World champ Lewis Hamilton took the knee whereas some rivals did not and sought to raise awareness of the Breonna Taylor deathCredit: Getty
Brit Lewis Hamilton did more than most global sports figures to raise awareness of important issuesCredit: Getty
Lewis Hamilton will be free to express himself for the new seasonCredit: Getty
Hamilton also wore a t-shirt bearing the words “arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” at the Tuscan Grand Prix to raise awareness of the woman who was shot by police in her own home.
Hamilton also chose to take a knee before the races but his decision was not universally copied, with six of the 20 drivers choosing to remain standing.
There was some criticism that it diluted F1’s We Race As One campaign, used to promote anti-racism and equality.
The issue was raised by F1’s new CEO Stefano Domenicali during testing earlier this month in Bahrain and the sport will make some tweaks to its pre-race procedure.
The rainbow will be dropped from their message and the sport will use time on the grid to raise awareness to a number of issues, such as sustainability and diversity.
However, drivers have been told they are free to express themselves during the message.
That means Hamilton can again take a knee if he wishes to do so.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

An F1 spokesman said: “The whole of Formula 1 is united in its support for #WeRaceAsOne and the drivers will all show their own support for the initiative ahead of the grand prix.
“The drivers will be free to show their commitment in their own way before the race and there will be no requirement for them to make a specific gesture.
“The important thing is all of them being together in full support of our initiatives on sustainability, diversity and inclusion and community.”

Lewis Hamilton and Tom Brady talk about how they would each fair in each others sports More

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed the secrets behind his astonishing Formula One success. Britain’s seven-time world champion admits he surrounds himself with “far, far smarter” people.
Lewis Hamilton has revealed the secret to his successCredit: AP
And he is not afraid to ask “dumb” questions to help his Mercedes engineers build him the best car, which he then studies inside and out so he knows his “s***”.
Then, once in the cockpit, he never lets his mind wander from the “life or death decisions” he makes as he races his 200mph machine round grands prix circuits.
Hamilton, 36, is favourite to land a record-breaking EIGHTH world crown this year to cement his position as the greatest F 1 driver in history – despite some testing problems with his new Mercedes W12 supercar.
And he declared: “Team dynamics is definitely key to winning.
“Imagine 2,000 people in a rowing boat. If one person is rowing in the opposite direction, it slows you down.
“So getting everyone moving in the right direction helps.
“I am always analysing how I motivate individuals around me to raise our performance.
“You need to have the talent – but you have to adapt to different situations and the pressures around you.
“It’s having the confidence in your ability and just knowing your s***. I know everything about the car, I study it every year.
“I make sure I work with people who are far, far smarter than me and make them educate me every year.
“If I don’t understand something simple and it sounds dumb because I don’t understand, I don’t care.
“I still ask the question, so that I can give them better explanations of what I want from a car.
“When you have that collaboration, it helps you build the best car and win races.”
That is something he has done throughout his glittering career, winning a record 95 grands prix, claiming 98 poles, 165 podiums and amassing a staggering 3,778 points from his 266 races.
Hamilton will be out to improve those stats when the season gets underway in Bahrain on Sunday.
However, his achievements have often been targeted by claims he is only a multiple champion because he has always had the best car.
Hamilton starts his title defence this weekend in BahrainCredit: AFP
Triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart insisted Hamilton would not figure in his all-time top three greatest drivers – and claimed his “car and engine are so superior that it’s almost unfair on the rest of the field”.
Former F 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya echoed Stewart by claiming: “In F 1, the driver with the fastest car wins. Period.”
McLaren star Lando Norris belittled Hamilton’s phenomenal record, insisting: “He is in a car which should win every race.”
But the champ dismissed the jibes and said he could also have won world titles in rival cars.
Hamilton added: “I won my first championship in 2008 (with McLaren).  The Ferrari was the fastest car and I beat them.
“In 2018 I would have won in the Ferrari which, again, wasn’t the fastest car.
“But if you look at every champion in the past, there is not one who hasn’t won the championship without a great team and a great car.”
Four-time champ Sebastian Vettel insisted his rival is “the greatest driver of our era”.
But Hamilton admitted he cannot afford to switch off for even a millisecond on the track. He added: “There is no time to have crazy thoughts.
“You’re not thinking, ‘Have I got groceries at home?’.
“You cannot afford to think of something else because it’s life-or-death decisions you are making.
“Every millisecond counts, you are constantly focused.”
However, he confessed he has “no idea” what he would have done had he not carved out a career as a Formula One driver.
In a Q&A session with AMG Private Lounge members, he revealed: “I tried different jobs when I was a teenager and I was terrible at many of them!
“I didn’t have a lot of patience when I worked in a clothes store, in a pub.
“But I always loved building things like tables, or taking things apart like TVs.
“Dad had a bunch of stuff in the garage so I was always in there being mechanical with my radio-controlled cars, taking things apart and putting them back together.
CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH

“So, maybe I would have been a techie.”
He also revealed he has endured some “bad hair” days on the podium and sings in the shower.
Now he is ready to clean up again on the track.
The ten greatest F1 drivers of all-time – according to SunSport’s motorsport correspondent Ben Hunt
Lewis Hamilton ‘a bit grumpy’ during pre-season Sky filming and ‘seemed unhappy’ at Mercedes negotiations More