‘More about deeds than words!’ F1 decides to move on from Lewis Hamilton backed anti-racism gesture

‘More about deeds than words!’ F1 decides to move on from Lewis Hamilton backed anti-racism gesture

Lewis Hamilton and co will not be talking the knee from 2022 as F1 decided to ‘move on’ from gestors to 'actions'

From the beginning of 2020 season , following the world-wide protest demanding inclusive treatment of underprivileged communities  (especially racial and ethnical minorities ),  F1 which is regarded as the one of elitist sports, started the initiative  ‘We Race as One’. The movement represent F1 call for inclusiveness and its anti-racism stand.

 The initiative  made F1 to start a engineering scholarship programme in 2021 for under-represented communities,  extended until at least 2025, enabling scholarships to be offered to 10 students each year. Now F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed the drivers  will no longer be presented the formal opportunity to take the knee in a pre-race ceremony, but are still free to take a knee, in an effort focus on more actions to taken in the matter concerned.

Find out what F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali had to say

F1
Stefano Domenicali and Lewis Hamilton

Stefano Domenicali said the gesture of drivers taking the knee in has been an important in showcasing every one deserves respect but now its time to move on and take action. Stefano Domenicali went on to say in order to show F1 intention in joining the movement was important they have to now move on from gesture to actions, actions that will focus on the  diversity of our community.

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“I think the gesture has been an important gesture because we need to respect everyone, as always. But now is the time to move on and take some other action,” Stefano Domenicali told Sky sports.

“We needed to make sure that what we did was important to show the intention of Formula 1 in things that were really important for the world. I think now it’s the matter of [changing] gesture, to action. Now the action is the focus on the diversity of our community, and this is the first step,” Stefano Domenicali explained.

Sky Sports also reports that  7 times F1 world champion Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton, the sole Black or racial minority representative at the F1 grid,  who  has been at the forefront of the push for more diversity and inclusion in the sport and beyond, supports the decision from F1.

Also read: Fernando Alonso believes strongly in Alpine’s new F1 car for the 2022 season