Hamilton says criticism not aimed at rivals
SIX-TIME world champion Lewis Hamilton said he was not targeting Formula One rivals when he condemned the sport’s silence on racial injustice and the lack of diversity. Hamilton, who starts his bid for a record-equaling seventh title in the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, has been vocal in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and racial equality. The 35-year-old Mercedes driver, who will be in black overalls and driving a black car with the message “End Racism” on it this season, last month criticized those who failed to speak out. “I see those of you who are staying silent, some of you the biggest of stars yet you stay silent in the midst of injustice,” said the Briton, referring to the killing of George Floyd. Hamilton, the sport’s only black driver, explained in a video released by Mercedes’ parent company Daimler as part of a “We Care, We Do, We Move” series yesterday that he was addressing the world of motorsport as a whole. “People perceived it as (if) I was targeting drivers,” he said. “I really wasn’t. It was targeted at the whole industry. And it’s been something I’ve been aware of for a long, long time, and not really seen anyone doing anything about it,” Hamilton said. “That was really a calling to people within the industry for accountability, for all the brands. They need to do more. The sport needs to do more. The (governing) FIA needs to do more. We all need to do more. So that was really what the message was about,” he added. LONDON / REUTERS