Lewis Hamilton is not letting FIA’s recent restrictions hold him back from exercising his first amendment right to free speech, according to ESPN’s Nate Saunders. With the 2023 Formula One season right around the corner, the FIA made an update to the International Sporting Code. The update was implementing a clause meant to restrict comments or displays that are political, religious, or personal in nature without written permission acquired prior.
After the release of Mercedes’ new 2023 car, Hamilton got together with the media to share his thoughts on the FIA attempting to restrict the aforementioned topics.
“It doesn’t surprise me, but nothing will stop me from speaking on the things that I’m passionate about, and on issues that there are. The sport does have a responsibility still to speak out, to create awareness on important topics, particularly as we travel to all these different places. So nothing changes for me.”
Hamilton has been an active user of the sport’s platform to raise awareness on topics for years now. He believes that topics should be addressed and talked about more than they currently are. For example, Hamilton reportedly wore a shirt that read “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor” both before and after the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020.
That said, Hamilton later emphasized that he didn’t want to intentionally risk being penalized just to get his thoughts on a subject across.
“I think It would be silly to say that I would want to get penalty points for speaking out on things. But as I said, I am still going to be speaking my mind. We still have this platform, and there are still a lot of things we need to tackle.”
While the FIA may have the power to issue sporting and financial penalties on any who does not adhere to the rules, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has said the sport refuses to impose a proverbial gag on its drivers. Hamilton expressed his heartfelt gratitude for Domenicali’s stance on the matter.
“The support from Stefano has been amazing, and I think all of the drivers have been very much aligned on freedom of speech.”
They are basically telling Hamilton to shut up and drive.
Flip the pages for more of the restrictions.