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LEWIS HAMILTON and his fellow Formula One stars have been urged to fight against new laws limiting free speech. F1’s governing body, the FIA, have introduced new rules into the sport which limit the ability for those in the sport to express themselves.
Lewis Hamilton has been urged to keep speaking out despite new rulesCredit: Getty
The likes of Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have been outspoken on social issues in the pastCredit: Getty
The new doctrine states participants cannot make or display “political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality… unless previously approved in writing by the FIA.”
It comes following the World Cup, which was marred by political controversy as Fifa declared they would sanction political gestures, such as the “One Love” armbands, in Qatar.
But F1 drivers have been urged to rebel against the “brutal” and “hypocritical” rules that have been brought in.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Rob Koehler, chief executive of Global Athlete, said: “Without athletes, the sport does not exist.
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“It is blatantly hypocritical to tell athletes to stick to their sports and stay out of politics while the FIA consistently leverages politics to their advantage.”
Hamilton, along with the now-retired Sebastian Vettel, has been one driver who has remained an outspoken voice on political issues both outside and inside of F1.
And Koehler added: “Freedom of expression is a basic fundamental human right and sport rules cannot supersede human rights.
“Many people look up to athletes as agents of change.
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“The example set by the FIA is that every child, youth and adult watching the sport should remain silent on social justice issues.
“It is simply wrong. Shame on the FIA.
“Athletes are humans first, athletes second.
“It is also clear that the FIA is taking a page out of Fifa’s playbook to silence athletes.”
The FIA explained the change to Article 12.2.1 of the sporting code was done “to align itself to the practices of other similar international sports organisations such as Fifa, IOC and Fiba on the matter of neutrality.”
Koehler slammed the move, saying: “In 2020, athletes took a stand against the IOC and IPC to force them to relax their rules on freedom of expression.
“I hope the drivers do the same. This is brutal.”
Seven-time world champion Hamilton previously wore a shirt that read “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” in 2020, and has remained outspoken on a variety of social issues.
Likewise, Vettel highlighted issues such as LGBTQ+ rights and Climate Change prior to his retirement.
After initially promoting the taking of the knee and the “We Race As One” slogan, F1 ditched the knee gesture at the start of 2022 with president Stefano Domenicali declaring “action” rather than “gestures” were needed.
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The new move from F1 has also been slammed online, with SunSport’s Ben Hunt declaring: “Outlawing freedom of speech is not progress.”
A jewellery ban introduced by the FIA earlier this season also saw them come under fire. More

FORMULA ONE’S best paid drivers in 2022 have been revealed, with a new champion in tow.Lewis Hamilton, who has held the crown since 2013, endured a difficult year behind the wheel of his Mercedes as he failed to win a race in a season for the first time in his F1 career.
Lewis Hamilton has been knocked off of his perch at F1’s top paid driverCredit: Getty
Max Verstappen won his second drivers championship in 2022Credit: Rex
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen cruised to a second world championship with a record-breaking 15 race victories to his name.
The pair have been F1’s headline act in recent years, with their rivalry seeing sparks fly both on and off the track as they took the 2021 championship down to the last lap of the season.
And while the Dutchman claimed victory in that battle, a year on he has added the lucrative title of F1’s best paid driver to his name.
As revealed by Forbes, the Red Bull driver is taking home a cool £33million ($40m) plus £16.5m in bonuses ($20m).
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Verstappen, 25, signed a bumper new-deal with Red Bull ahead of the 2022 season, and he paid back the deal with 15 race wins and shattering the record for most points scored in a season with 454.
Hamilton falls just short of his rival, though not in the basic salary department.
Indeed, the Brit’s annual salary dwarfs Verstappen’s by around £12.4m ($15m), with Hamilton earning £45.3m ($55m) WITHOUT bonuses.
Verstappen’s champion bonus has given him the edge over Hamilton in this case, but Hamilton remains one of the most marketable assets in Motorsport, with him earning £6.6m ($8m) in endorsements off-track.
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Moving down the list is another driver with Hamilton history.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso claims the final podium spot, with the 41-year-old earning £24.7m ($30m) in 2022.
And like Hamilton, he has secured this deal with just a basic salary.
Not that this has stopped him from swapping Alpine for Aston Martin next season.
Mexican Sergio Perez comes in fourth with £21.4m ($26m) earned.
The 32-year-old narrowly lost out on second spot in the driver’s championship to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but still earned a juicy £13.2m ($16m) in bonuses.
Leclerc comes in next after earning £18.9m ($23m) over 2022.
The Monegasque will be hoping he can make more of a dent in Verstappen’s title charge next season and be the first driver to win a title for the Tifosi since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
The top 10 list of F1 driver earnings in 2022
Retiring F1 icon Sebastian Vettel is next.
The four-time champion earned £14m ($17m) in his final year in his F1, though Vettel has been offered a chance to change this decision in the future, with a lot of love clearly still going around for him after Hamilton arranged a farewell dinner for him.
Another star leaving the sport, Daniel Ricciardo, earned the same as Vettel.
But while Vettel is leaving the sport completely, the honeybadger is dropping into a reserve driver role with ex-team Red Bull.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz comes in at P8 on the list, earning £12.4m ($15m).
His former team-mate Lando Norris also made the top 10.
The 23-year-old McLaren star was the only driver outside of the big three teams to earn a podium throughout the season and finished best of the rest in P7 in the driver standings.
His impressive season saw him earn £9.1m ($11m) in 2022, eclipsing that of compatriot George Russell.
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Russell capped off his first-season with the Silver Arrows with a race win at the penultimate race of the season in Brazil.
The 24-year-old earned £8.2m ($10m) despite a basic salary of just £2.5m ($3m). More

GEORGE RUSSELL says Mercedes “haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car” and says the team are “building on top” of last season’s woes.Merc were well off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari in 2022.
Russell expects Merc to be competitive from the off next seasonCredit: Splash
Red Bull picked up the Formula One Constructors’ championship while Max Verstappen became a two-time world champ.
Russell did, however, pick up Merc’s one and only win of the season in Brazil.
And ahead of the 2023 campaign, the Brit says his team still know what they’re doing in F1.
Russell is also confident the team will be competitive from the first race of the season.
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He told BBC Radio Norfolk: “They haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car.
“We just got it wrong this year.”
Russell continued: “We got the philosophy wrong. We went down a route which turned out to be the wrong route.
“Sometimes it takes you a long time to dig yourself out of that hole.
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“Now I feel we’ve dug ourselves out of that hole and we’re building on top of that.
“We are a step behind Red Bull and Ferrari and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do – but we’re definitely going to be in a much stronger position from race one next year than we were this year.”
Russell managed to beat seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton in the standings last season.
In his debut campaign for Merc, Russell claimed 275 points to Hamilton’s 240.
Despite that, Russell is not proud of his start to life at the Silver Arrows.
He said: “I’m not going to walk away from this season with a huge amount of pride because I finished fourth in the championship.
“I’m here to win. We need to keep raising the bar.”
And Russell has issued a warning to team-mate Hamilton, who dreams of claiming a record-breaking eighth world crown.
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Russell added: “I’m here for the long haul and even though I would have wanted victories and to be fighting for that championship in 2022, I think as a team the struggles are going to set us up much nicer for the coming years.
“So I hope I look back in 10 years time and say, actually this 2022 season was a positive one for the journey.” More

LEWIS HAMILTON shared heart-warming photos after making his brother’s “dream come true” by helping him drive the Mercedes simulator. Nicolas Hamilton, who has cerebral palsy, became the first disabled person to drive the sim.
Lewis and Nicolas Hamilton share a close brotherly bondCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
Some modifications had to be made to the Sim to help Nicolas get the best out of the experienceCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
Nicolas had a big smile on his face throughout the experienceCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
The 30-year-old emulated his older brother as he donned the white Mercedes race suit.
Hamilton shared a series of photos of their “special day” in a Instagram post which has received over 930,000 likes and had a big reaction.
The seven-times world champion was snapped helping his sibling fit into the iconic Mercedes costume before Nicolas climbed into the sim.
The state-of-the-art machine produces a hyper-realistic experience of what it would be like to be in an F1 car and is regularly used by drivers and teams.
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Nicolas could be seen smiling throughout the photos as he got to live out his fantasy.
And in one moving picture, he could be seen sat in the simulator as the older Hamilton hugs his father in the background.
Nicolas has driven in other racing series such as the Renault Clio Cup and European Tour Cup using a specially adapted car.
In the Instagram caption, his F1 star brother said: “Earlier this year Nicolas Hamilton and I asked my team if we could make this happen and here we are.
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“Time in the sim is incredibly rare, and not something that is accessible for someone like my brother.
Nicolas Hamilton has previously raced in motorsport series such as the Renault Clio Cup, European Touring Car Cup and British Touring Car ChampionshipCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
The state-of-the-art machinery allows users to get an authentic feeling of how it is to drive an F1 carCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
Lewis Hamilton is coming off the back of a topsy-turvy F1 seasonCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
“It took custom modifications to the seat, steering wheel and pedals to make this possible.”
At the end of the experience, the Hamilton brothers could be seen sharing a close embrace.
Hamilton added: “[Nicolas] spent the whole day in it, and is the first disabled person to ever do so.
“He’s always been a fighter and seeing him have this day is an honour.
“The smile you see here never left his face. Can’t wait to share more of this special day, thank you @mercedesamgf1 for the time and work put in to make this possible and make my brother’s dream come true.”
The emotional Instagram post triggered a big reaction.
One person wrote: “I’m a disability parent, and the relationship you have with your brother is truly my favourite thing about you both.
“You’re a champion of human rights, an incredible advocate, a great driver, a fantastic human being – but you’re truly the greatest brother.”
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Hamilton is currently enjoying time off after the F1 season ended last month.
He will be back on the grid in 2023 when the new season kicks off in Bahrain in March.
A proud Anthony Hamilton hugs Lewis in the background while Nicolas enjoys the simCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton
Lewis helped Nicolas into the Mercedes race suitCredit: Instagram / @lewishamilton More

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed his emotional reaction to George Russell’s first F1 win. The 24-year-old crossed the line first in the penultimate race in Brazil to secure Mercedes’ first win of the season.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton secured an unexpected 1-2 finish in BrazilCredit: Splash
It was a big moment for the Brackley-based team after a season of struggle and Russell was visibly emotional after his achievement.
Porpoising issues dominated the first-half of the season as both Hamilton and Russell struggled to get to grips with the car.
But the back end of 2022 saw the pair regularly challenging for race wins in a complete turnaround in form.
The incredible result in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Hamilton came second despite a crash with Max Verstappen, was the crowning moment for Mercedes.
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And Hamilton revealed his emotion at seeing his team celebrate their achievement.
The seven-time world champion told Channel 4: “I saw a video of my team when we got to Dubai [for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix].
“Just seeing everyone celebrating all together was quite an emotional thing, knowing how hard everyone had worked through the year.
“Also knowing how difficult it would have been for them, knowing how hard they would have worked last winter and they were not rewarded for all the hard work they had put in necessarily.
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“The whole season, not giving up and continuing to keep the faith, keep the hopes high and get a one-two was a very proud moment for me and the whole team.”
Mercedes’ struggles were one of the major themes of last season as Verstappen waltz to the title.
Despite winning every constructors’ championship since 2014 – up until the start of the 2022 season – the manufacturers toiled in the early goings as they tried to adjust to sweeping rule changes.
Only Ferrari appeared capable of challenging Red Bull but their season unravelled after multiple errors.
Last month, team principal Mattia Binotto resigned after their underwhelming performance. More

MERCEDES chief Toto Wolff expects seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton to extend his stay at the Silver Arrows despite failing to record a win in 2022.Hamilton, 37, is under contract at Merc until the end of 2023 and has previously declared he would not like to race in F1 beyond his 40th birthday.
Hamilton’s F1 contract expires at the end of next yearCredit: AFP
Merc chief Wolff expects Hamilton to extend his stayCredit: Splash
That would leave Hamilton with two or three seasons left in the sport and Merc chief Wolff is keen to make sure the Brit finishes with the team.
Wolff “absolutely” expects Hamilton to extend his contract.
He told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast: “Certainly, Lewis’ contract is one of the topics that we will tackle over the winter.
“There’s no firm deadline. Absolutely, Lewis is part of the team and the team is part of Lewis. 
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“[There is] no reason [for that] to not continue. I think one of his strengths is that he’s always hungry, always eager. 
“He’s a great sportsman but he’s also someone who is extremely driven and determined.”
Hamilton and Co are hoping to bounce back in the 2023 season with the team recording just one win.
And the win came for team-mate George Russell in Brazil – leaving Hamilton winless for the first time in an F1 season.
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Hamilton would like to claim a record-breaking eighth world title, pushing him ahead of Michael Schumacher.
However, Merc team-mate Russell has thrown his hat into the ring for a title bid.
Russell, who finished the season in fourth, told Racer: “I think I’ve got enough experience now that I feel ready to fight for a championship and be able to handle the challenges and difficulties that come with it.
“Obviously the likes of Lewis and Max have more experience in that scenario.
“But if you go out and you put it on pole and win every race you will be world champion.
“So you have just got to focus on smaller details and it’s in your own hands, almost.” More