Motorsport officials condemn racial abuse of Hamilton following his British GP win
MOTORSPORT officials on Monday condemned racist abuse on social media aimed at Formula One world champion
ewis Hamilton around his British Grand Prix victory.
Mercedes driver Hamilton won his home race Sunday after a first-lap collission with title rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
A joint statement from Formula One, the ruling body FIA and Mercedes said that Hamilton “was subjected to multiple instances of racist abuse on social media following an in-race collision.
“Formula 1, The FIA and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms. These people have no place in our sport and we urge that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.
British Sky TV said that the abuse included monkey emojis under a Mercedes post on Instagram.
Red Bull, while upset about the race incident that saw their driver Verstappen crash out and spend several hours in hospital in Coventry for checkups, also strongly opposed the abuse of Hamilton.
“While we may be fierce rivals on-track, we are all united against racism. We condemn racist abuse of any kind towards our team, our competitors and our fans,” Red Bull tweeted.
“As a team we are disgusted and saddened to witness the racist abuse ewis endured yesterday on social media after the collision with Max.
“There is never any excuse for it, there is certainly
no place for it in our sport and those responsible should be held accountable.”
Hamilton is the only black driver in the sport and a passionate campaigner against discrimination.
“Formula 1, the FIA, the drivers and the teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable instances of online abuse must be highlighted and eliminated,” the statement said.
The incidents come a
week after England footballers Marcus Rashford, Jordan Sancho and Bukayo Saka were racially abused after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
The online abuse added to the controversy around the race which Hamilton won despite a 10-second penalty imposed by stewards over the incident with Verstappen.
Hamilton earned full points to close within eight points of Verstappen again in the championship after 10 of a
planned 23 season races.
Dutchman Verstappen and his team had criticised Hamilton and Mercedes.
“Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move
ewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on,” Verstappen tweeted.
Red Bull team principal
Christian Horner accused Hamilton of “a desperate move” and “dirty driving” after the team’s unbeaten run of five races - four won by Verstappen - ended.
Hamilton tweeted: “Today is a reminder of the dangers in this sport.
I send my best wishes to Max who is an incredible competitor. I’m glad to hear he is ok.” But he also vowed ahead of the next race on August 1 in Hungary that he won’t back down: “I will always race hard but always fairly.”