Ready to cancel races: F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali mentions his steps to shun human rights violation in host countries

Stefano Domenicali has talked about cancelling races if he finds out that any of the host countries are not promoting human rights issues.

Ready to cancel races: F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali mentions his steps to shun human rights violation in host countries

Formula 1 is an international sport in the truest meaning of the word. Each year the Championship starts with a grand opening Grand Prix, and then the other races are held at different circuits at different locations all around the world. Now, for the past few years, it has been customary for the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi to hold the season finale with a lot of grandeur. But it is no news that the middle-eastern countries like the Saudi Arabia and Qatar are still behind on several human rights issues, and thus, fans are not very supportive of F1 races being held there.

Even this year, while much-anticipated races like the French Grand Prix and the South African Grand Prix did not get a chance, the Jeddah GP and Abu Dhabi GP are still on the F1 calendar. With all the talks of Formula 1 supporting the human rights movements, the inclusion of races in UAE and Qatar have not impressed the fans. On top of that, there is the recent FIA-imposed ban on Formula 1 drivers making political statements that have not been previously approved by the authorities. All this has raised the question of whether F1 is actually not standing up for the causes it claims to fight for.

Now, the F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has assured that promoting all human rights missions is a top agenda for the sport. He even said that, if there is any indication that one of the host countries has grossly violated the human rights of its inhabitants, then he will not think twice before pulling the plug on the race being held there. He mentioned, “We have it in our contracts that if we see something that is not going to the right direction, we have immediately the benefit of stopping our relationship [with the host countries].”

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Stefano Domenicali says F1 has auditors who oversee the human rights issues in host countries

Stefano Domenicali

In recent years, Formula 1 has become a big, global phenomenon with millions of fans from all parts of the world. And thus, the sport has an image to live up to and minds to inspire. Thus, they cannot simply hold races in any and every country–even the hostile ones where human rights are not given any heed. Stefano Domenicali has assured that his organisation has independent auditors who will report if a country is too hostile to hold a race there.

Domenicali said, “I do believe, once again, that we are much more powerful if we are going in places where they are showing real will to change and the spotlight of Formula 1 will help the speed of change to be faster.”

And hence, Stefano Domenicali has mentioned that he will not shy away from cancelling a race if the host country does not value F1’s fight for human rights. Now, in other news, the upcoming 2023 season is not too far away, and the teams have already started revealing their liveries one by one. And henceforth, it only remains to be seen how the impressive-looking cars perform on the racetracks when they get to the season opener in Bahrain in a few weeks’ time.

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