Post by admin on Feb 8, 2022 16:09:25 GMT
Formula 1 will STOP drivers from taking the knee at the front of the grid this season despite Lewis Hamilton's outspoken views on the gesture b0252
Lewis Hamilton will have to stop taking a knee at the front of the grid after Formula One bosses decided to end the gesture ahead of the new season.
Hamilton - and a dwindling number of his fellow drivers - have gathered at the front of the grid and knelt ahead of every race for the past two seasons in a show of solidarity against racism.
But F1 is set to pull the allocated slot from its pre-race schedule for the new season which starts in Bahrain on Sunday, March 20.
The act was coordinated by F1 bosses and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and while all 20 drivers wore t-shirts with the message 'End Racism', only 14 of them took the knee.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen were among those who didn't take the knee after they were given a free choice.
'Formula 1 left us the choice to express ourselves in the way we wanted,' Leclerc said at the time.
'We all went [to the front of the grid] and it was clearly written on our shirt to end racism, which is the main message we want to pass through.
'Anybody is free to express it the way we want and that's what I did, I wanted to stand. I bowed my head to respect this, and yes I'm completely against racism.
'I've seen a few things on social media, honestly, that disgust me, to judge someone racist just because he didn't take the knee for me is not right and it's definitely not me. But I wanted to do it that way.'
But the Russian driver Daniil Kvyat said: 'I am really against racism and we as a group of drivers decided that a very strong message would be wearing the T-shirts stating 'End Racism'. I think that kind of message was very strong and it got delivered to everyone.
'Unfortunately, the gesture of going on the knee is against my mentality of my country where you only go on the knees in front of God, your flag and that's about it.'
At the beginning of the 2021 F1 season, when the 'We Race As One' campaign was launched, only half the 20 drivers decided to take the knee ahead of the first race in Bahrain.
The racers who did kneel were Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Nicholas Latifi, George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Mick Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
The Brit was seen looking along the line, and will have noticed that his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas as well as Nikita Mazepin, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso chose to stand.
dailymail.co.uk/sport/Formula-1-STOP-drivers-taking-knee-despite-Lewis-Hamilton-views 8/2/22
Lewis Hamilton will have to stop taking a knee at the front of the grid after Formula One bosses decided to end the gesture ahead of the new season.
Hamilton - and a dwindling number of his fellow drivers - have gathered at the front of the grid and knelt ahead of every race for the past two seasons in a show of solidarity against racism.
But F1 is set to pull the allocated slot from its pre-race schedule for the new season which starts in Bahrain on Sunday, March 20.
The act was coordinated by F1 bosses and the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and while all 20 drivers wore t-shirts with the message 'End Racism', only 14 of them took the knee.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen were among those who didn't take the knee after they were given a free choice.
'Formula 1 left us the choice to express ourselves in the way we wanted,' Leclerc said at the time.
'We all went [to the front of the grid] and it was clearly written on our shirt to end racism, which is the main message we want to pass through.
'Anybody is free to express it the way we want and that's what I did, I wanted to stand. I bowed my head to respect this, and yes I'm completely against racism.
'I've seen a few things on social media, honestly, that disgust me, to judge someone racist just because he didn't take the knee for me is not right and it's definitely not me. But I wanted to do it that way.'
But the Russian driver Daniil Kvyat said: 'I am really against racism and we as a group of drivers decided that a very strong message would be wearing the T-shirts stating 'End Racism'. I think that kind of message was very strong and it got delivered to everyone.
'Unfortunately, the gesture of going on the knee is against my mentality of my country where you only go on the knees in front of God, your flag and that's about it.'
At the beginning of the 2021 F1 season, when the 'We Race As One' campaign was launched, only half the 20 drivers decided to take the knee ahead of the first race in Bahrain.
The racers who did kneel were Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Nicholas Latifi, George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Mick Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
The Brit was seen looking along the line, and will have noticed that his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas as well as Nikita Mazepin, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso chose to stand.
dailymail.co.uk/sport/Formula-1-STOP-drivers-taking-knee-despite-Lewis-Hamilton-views 8/2/22
