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It’s been too easy for too long to look at Lewis Hamilton and think ‘he’ll take care of this issue’, so the rest of Formula 1 can awkwardly bow our heads and avoid confronting uncomfortable topics.
On-site, the Qatar Grand Prix passed like there was nothing different about that grand prix. And it’ll be that way for much of the weekend in Saudi Arabia as well. We can all shrug and say we dislike that we’re here but that’s as far as it goes 99% of the time.
But thanks to Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who spoke very eloquently on the subject in Jeddah on Thursday, the Saudi Arabia event has at least started with a bit more engagement on such important off-track matters.
The two presented different versions of a similar argument: Vettel preached the value of a positive approach, advocating the benefits of understanding the country’s reforms and assisting on that front, while Hamilton stressed the need for greater awareness.
Both were entirely valid, they covered different ground, and they combined to make a great example of exactly what F1 can achieve by putting issues in the spotlight: different approaches increase the chance of striking a chord with more people.
What was also important is how both, ultimately, preach education. They talked about their self-reflection and why they’ve been moved to take action, rather than just lecture or criticise.
Back in Qatar, Hamilton said: “I have been to a lot of these countries and have been ignorant, been unconscious of some of the problems in some of the places.
“It’s down to whether you [as an individual] decide to educate yourself and hold the sport more accountable and make sure the sport is actually doing something about it when it goes to those places.”
Without education, F1 and the people travelling to places like Saudi Arabia for races will not understand why these places have the cultures they do or why it’s so important to try to help them evolve when it comes to matters of human rights.
There are strongly conservative, religious views in this part of the world for a reason. To charge in and declare the entire region morally bankrupt would hardly be an effective way of trying to encourage the change many do want to see.
But as Vettel and Hamilton have shown, F1 has a huge platform in places like this. So it cannot be a passive participant. It needs to put the spotlight on the wrong attitudes and the right causes.
Hamilton’s crash helmet design in Qatar was a bold move for someone with such a profile. That he’ll wear it again in Saudi Arabia is fantastic. It’s a message of support and a conversation starter. It’s meant to be a symbol of solidarity to those who are persecuted, and make observers pause and think.
There’s a great need for that when F1 races in places like this kingdom – we should never forget the death penalty exists here as a possible punishment for being in a same-sex relationship, after all.
F1 set itself a certain moral standard when it jumped on the social responsibility bandwagon and committed to its We Race As One policy.
While it shouldn’t rely on Hamilton or Vettel, who has become increasingly forthright, to uphold that standard, it’s comforting to know there are at least some high-profile allies willing to lead by example.
