Hamilton questions India splurging on F1
LONDON: Five-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton on Thursday clarified why he felt “conflicted” to race in a “poor place” like India, saying the huge amount of money could have been spent on building homes and schools rather than a Formula One track.
Hamilton questioned the strategy of taking Formula One to places like India, Korea and Turkey where the sport did not survive for long. Vietnam is another country which doesn’t have rich motorsport history but will be hosting a Formula One race in 2020.
“We’ve got a lot of real racing history in England, Germany, Italy and now in the United States, it is starting to grow. But you only have one event per year in those places. If it was my business, I’d be trying to do more events in those countries,” Hamilton told BBC.
“I’ve been to Vietnam before and it is beautiful. I’ve been to India before to a race which was strange because India was such a poor place yet we had this massive, beautiful Grand Prix track made in the middle of nowhere. I felt very conflicted when I went to that Grand Prix.
His comment on India did not go down well with his fans and he took to social media to justify what he said.
“Hey everyone, I noticed some people are upset with my comment on India. First off, India is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The culture there is incredible. I have visited and always had an amazing time however whilst it’s the fastest growing economy it also has a lot of poverty,” he wrote on Twitter.
“My reference was that a Grand Prix there felt strange to drive past homeless people and then arrive in a huge area where money was not an issue.”