Petrov: 'Hamilton goes too far with his shirt and call to kneel'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton is an advocate of the BLM movement and advocates recurring demonstrations against racism prior to races. He has got that on the agenda and a moment is now taken before the start of each race. In Mugello, Hamilton went a step further by wearing a shirt with the message that the cops who killed Brionna Taylor should be arrested.
Redundant actions
It has loosened up quite a bit, this action of Hamilton. He knows a lot of supporters as well as opponents and in the case of his last shirt, a lot of people question this kind of action in the sport, given that it has to remain somewhat separate. According to former F1 driver Vitaly Petrov, Hamilton is going a bit too far.
Talking to Championnat, Petrov says: "For me, that shirt is superfluous, just like calling everyone to kneel. It is a personal matter for every adult. You have the right to speak out in your social networks or to give interviews. You can create a kind of social movement, address the government and more, but I think that the same American government itself is already aware of these problems and doesn't just let it pass."
"But in Formula 1 itself, to summon everyone... I think half the audience didn't even know what this shirt stood for until it was explained," Petrov emphasizes his point. "What if one of the drivers comes out and then comes out with a rainbow flag? I don't think the FIA will allow that kind of action then."
But that could also have something to do with the culture gap, because Petrov goes on to say that they don't have this kind of racism problem in Russia at all. "In Russia we have a different mentality. We don't know the kind of problem Hamilton is talking about here. There has to be respect for every human being."