Out of neutral, F1 drivers shift debate as well as gears

“I think we see really a decisive shift,” Alex Wurz, the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), told Reuters after Vettel recently appeared on a British television panel show with politicians. “Four or five years ago no-one wanted to engage in a conversation about any of the topics of racism, sustainability, human rights and such key topics. “Sport is now political, it’s not neutral. It’s impossible to be neutral,” added the Austrian, a former driver for Benetton, McLaren and Williams.

“And they (the drivers) have learned in a very short period of time to actually take the responsibility and represent values we all want to see.” Vettel, a four times world champion, discussed subjects ranging from the war in Ukraine to Brexit and energy dependence when he appeared on “Question Time”.

The Aston Martin driver said climate change had made him question his job travelling the world to race cars. On Friday at the Spanish Grand Prix he explained his thinking. “I often get the question ‘Why is this important to you?’,” he said. “This is not important to me, this is important to all of us. “How can you ignore?… You don’t have that luxury any more, to not care. Because, you know, it’s the foundation of all of what we do.

“I think it’s for all of us to think of what we can do to shift change to raise awareness.” Wurz said Hamilton, as a seven times world champion and the sport’s only Black driver, had been a “fantastic accelerator” of change. The Mercedes driver, with more than 28 million Instagram followers, has used his platform to promote fashion and shine a light on LGBTQ+ issues and rights abuses in countries the sport visits. Hamilton and other drivers took the knee before races in 2020 and 2021 as part of the sport’s “We Race as One” anti-racism initiative, although that “grid moment” has now been dropped. Norris, 22 and with 5.3 million Instagram followers, has been open about his mental health battles and the pressure he experienced as a rookie.