F1 drivers take a knee, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Most F1 drivers take a knee before Austrian GP

2020 Austrian Grand Prix

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Most Formula 1 drivers joined a ‘take a knee’ protest ahead of the start of the Austrian Grand Prix.

The 20-strong field all wore black T-shirts, most with the messages ‘end racism’ across the front, while Lewis Hamilton‘s sported the ‘black lives matter’ slogan.

He was among 14 drivers in the 20-strong field who knelt ahead of the race, along with Alexander Albon, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, George Russell, Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi.

Among the six drivers who did not take a knee, Charles Leclerc explained his reasons for doing so.

“I believe that what matters are facts and behaviours in our daily life rather than formal gestures that could be seen as controversial in some countries,” Charles Leclerc said on social media. “I will not take the knee but this does not mean at all that I am less committed than others in the fight against racism.”

Max Verstappen also chose to stand during the pre-race ceremony. “I am very committed to equality and the fight against racism,” he said. “But I believe everyone has the right to express themself at a time and in a way that suits them.

“I will not take the knee today but respect and support the personal choices every driver makes.” Carlos Sainz Jnr, Daniil Kvyat and Alfa Romeo drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi were the others who did not ‘take a knee’.

Lando Norris, who did kneel, urged his followers not to “make assumptions about what decisions drivers take on the grid to express their support against racism”.

“We all share the same belief in ending racism and supporting equality for all,” said Norris.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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79 comments on “Most F1 drivers take a knee before Austrian GP”

  1. Certainly will be a talking point. Having watched some premier League games, all the players and officials have taken the knee. I also agree with Leclerc and Verstappen that it’s a personal decision and I haven’t personally liked the way Hamilton has tried to ‘guilt trip’ the others into doing it in a meaningless way. On reflection, I think the mixed approach is more meaningful than the premier league, because these drivers are actually thinking about what they are doing.

    Anyway, back to the race!

    1. RIP English. Why say “Take a knee”?

      It’s kneeling.

      I’ve heard some drivers don’t like Hamilton because he makes them feel guilty for not taking part in the kneeling.

      When did kneeling start to mean you are against racism and are a civil person?

      I hate racists AND I kneel for no man. Is that possible?

      May I refuse to take part in arbitrary body gestures that somehow are meant to guilt me into illustrating my own civility to the world?

      1. Well said, Jim!

        The ones that didn’t kneel wen’t way up in my respect book. Kudos to them for not engaging in worthless virtue signaling.

        1. What you consider “worthless”, they may not. If I take your stance, I would say the drivers who did’t take a knee must be racist. According to your line of thinking, it’s the only logical conclusion. And in making that conclusion, I could also say you yourself must be a bigot, because somehow their not kneeling has gained them esteem in your eyes. Yikes. You’re making the exact counter argument, and it’s equally as invalid. You say the drivers who take a knee are “virtue signaling”, that’s your opinion, yet too many uneducated types state their opinion as if it’s fact. You have no idea what’s going on in any of those drivers heads, or how they truly feel. Yet you, and anonymous online nobody, claim to know all. Typical.

      2. Take a knee is a US English expression used in American football. You can confirm it here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/take-a-knee

      3. Jack (@jackisthestig)
        5th July 2020, 20:05

        Exactly, kneeling during the national anthem at the Austrian Grand Prix just looks disrespectful. Hats off to those who had the dignity to stay standing.

        1. Most drivers took a knee. That is the way of history….only the brave do that which is difficult. Most cowards take the easy way. Typical.

      4. highfieldoval
        5th July 2020, 20:43

        I think you mean, you read the D Mail.

        1. A person expresses an opinion you don’t like so you attack the person with a crass assumption. Very enlightened.

      5. Respect to them all, those that did and those that didn’t.
        They absolutely have the right to approach things how they choose and not be guilted into anything.

      6. Racecarisracecarbackwards
        6th July 2020, 3:49

        “Nobody should be forced into a scenario where they have to kneel,” Hamilton, 35, said. “I never requested or demanded for anyone to take a knee. I never brought it up. It was brought up by F1 and the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers’ Association]. Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean asked the drivers and there were several who said they wouldn’t do it. I am really grateful for those who did it along with me. It is a powerful message but whether you kneel or do not kneel, that is not going to change the world. It is a bigger issue than that.”

      7. If you believe drivers take a knee because they feel “guilty”, that speaks more to your mindset than it does theirs. You attribute your own emotion on another man when in reality you have no ability to understand or know what is in another man’s mind, or heart. It would be like me attributing a quality to you, who I do not know, based on a photograph or video of any action you may take. It’s preposterous. Yet some of you feel entitled to make assumptions based on gestures you say are “meaningless”. Curious lot you are. Seek help.

  2. I knew Kimi wouldn’t.

    1. He can think for himself it seems, instead of being used as a virtue signalling puppet.

      1. Agreed.

      2. Can you think for yourself? Because apparently you’re the type who when others do something you disagree with, suddenly you’re offended and call their actions “virtue signaling”. Typical for your kind. You call others puppets, but you should check your own backside because you’re definitely being manipulated. The irony would be risible, if it were not so pathetic.

  3. So what Lewis believes by wearing the Black Lives Matter tshirt is that his father’s life is worth more than his mother’s life.

    1. The word ‘more’ does not appear anywhere in the phrase ‘black lives matter’. You are misinterpreting the statement as some sort of black supremacy claim, rather than a reminder of the hardships experienced by racial minorities and that society as a whole needs to work harder to value their lives as much as we do the majority.

      1. Nikos (@exeviolthor)
        5th July 2020, 16:41

        +1

      2. @pez2k Wrong. You aren’t paying attention to what happens to people that try using the phrase “All Lives Matter”.

        1. Saying ‘all lives matter’ just indicates that the person speaking fundamentally does not understand the imbalance in society that brought about Black Lives Matter, and is not willing to take the time to understand. The phrase is also often used in opposition to Black Lives Matter, which in itself is a tacit approval of the oppression of racial minorities. At best it’s ill-informed, at worst it’s openly hateful.

          1. At best it’s ill-informed, at worst it’s openly hateful.

            I strongly (want to) believe that for most people on this site who fight so hard for ‘all lives matter’, it is indeed being ill-informed (I was a bit stronger and called it ‘ignorant’), @pez2k.

            But what they don’t seem to understand is that ‘all lives matter’ is used by racists to undermine the millions of peaceful protestors raising awareness around racism, prejudice, inequality, and police abuse.

            What surprises me though is that the self-proclaimed grammar purists here don’t seem to have a problem with ‘End Racism’.
            To be consistent, and not to leave out other forms of prejudicial treatment, they should be as vocal to change that to ‘End All Discrimination’.

      3. You can’t reason with ignorance. Simply call it out for what it is, and move on. Some people just don’t have the mental capacity to understand much of anything. Most of the time, it’s actual mental deficiency. Occasionally, it’s willful ignorance. Either way, they’re not worth the time.

    2. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      5th July 2020, 14:47

      Why, does it say White Lives Don’t Matter?

      1. Trying telling him to wear an All Live Matters tshirt and there will be the answer to your question.

        1. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
          5th July 2020, 14:53

          If anyone believes All Lives Matter then they would agree Black Lives Matter. Therefore, BLM is perfectly fine.

        2. All lives matter is fine as an ecocentric motto. If you are using to refer to people alone, you are just trying to dilute the message. It is an obnoxious curveball that can be tossed at basically every issue to try to sideline it.

          Someone is taking a stand to people dying from Covid without hospitals? Hey, all lives matter! Trying to combat famine in Yemen? Hey, but all lives matter! Is your family is being held at gunpoint? Dude, didn’t you know it’s all lives that matter instead?

          1. @Postreader

            Someone is taking a stand to people dying from Covid without hospitals? Hey, all lives matter!

            This not comparable, because in your example the distinction is made by cause of death, rather than by a trait of the victim. If you were to argue that only male COVID victims matter (because the disease hits men harder), I’m sure that you will get a lot of push back by people who also want you to care about female COVID victims.

            The implicit claim of ‘black lives matter’ is that the police uses unreasonable violence more eagerly against black people. However, this is a false claim, as studies have shown that the risk of death per police encounter is equal for white and black Americans.

            Black Americans do encounter the police far more often, but this is presumably in large part because the 13% of all Americans that are black, are responsible for 52% of violent crime. So black Americans commit violent crime 7.25 as often as the rest of the population.

            To reduce deaths of black Americans at the hands of the police, you can:
            – make the American police less prone to use violence against anyone (‘all lives matter’)
            – somehow reduce the criminality of black Americans

            Or you can pretend that the police are very racist, give them sensitivity training and such, only to see little result, because as long as you expect the police to go after criminals, they will police black Americans more.

          2. @aapje

            studies have shown that the risk of death per police encounter is equal for white and black Americans.

            Black Americans do encounter the police far more often

            These “encounters” don’t just magically happen where there is crime—they are mostly instigated by police and obviously the evidence shows that policing tactics (such as stop-and-frisk) target minorities.

            Second, when you drill down into how police encounters while the subject is unarmed, study after study shows that unarmed Black Americans are far more likely to be killed by police. That describes all of the cases that have provoked outrage in recent years.

          3. @markzastrow

            Yes, they focus more on high-crime regions and demographics. Yet I see no one complaining about the police targeting men and young people, even though they do (and far more so than black people). That’s what makes this so hypocritical, complaining about supposed double standards while applying far more arbitrary double standards, just demonstrates very clearly who ‘you’ care about and who ‘you’ don’t care about.

            As for your last point, I’ve already explained that this is true in absolute numbers, but not per police encounter.

          4. @aapje No, the police encounter-based data are easily skewed if police are targeting Black people in who they choose to “encounter”. This is a well-known statistical effect—you can have metrics that indicate a population-level anti-Black bias and an (apparent) encounter-level anti-white bias if police are stopping Black people disproportionately in the first place.

            Furthermore, studies have failed to find a correlation between police killings and areas with high crime rates, which also runs counter to your argument that Black people are only killed more by police because they commit more crime.

            The stuff about men and young people is just whataboutism.

          5. @markzastrow

            The skew is also present in homicide and those are not police-initiated investigations. These investigations start with a dead body or suspicious disappearance.

            And calling criticism of your double standards ‘whataboutism’ is a nice little trick you’ve learned, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are interpreting the same evidence differently based on the traits of the victims. Why don’t you see the huge over-representation of men in victims of police violence as a problem? Why don’t you care that the police are disproportionately stopping men (which they do) and thereby may be skewing the statistics?

          6. @aapje Hmm, how are homicide investigations relevant to the topic of police killings? The encounter-based statistics you cite to attempt to disprove racial bias in policing are in fact an artifact of the bias itself.

            As for your dismissal of whataboutism as a neat trick, it doesn’t change the fact that it fails to actually disprove the reality of racial bias and targeting in policing in the US. You ask why am I not worried about men—need I remind you that George Floyd was a man? As were Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, and so on.

            At worst, you charge I am less concerned about the gender-based injustice experienced by men than the injustice experienced by Black men (and Black women and Black people of all genders). Which…is because we don’t live in a reality where men have been treated unjustly by institutions that have for centuries been run and dominated by women?

            Anyway, the fact remains that in the US, Black men are more likely than white men to be stopped or killed by police and Black women are also more likely than white women to be stopped or experience force. And the statistics you cite that claim to show no such such trend per encounter are in fact a consequence of that bias and targeting.

          7. @markzastrow

            You said that the huge over-representation black Americans in the police statistics is due to ethnic profiling. I responded by arguing that this is unlikely to be a significant issue, because we see a huge racial disparity in homicide perpetrators and victims as well. Note that studies consistently show that perpetrators and victims are almost always of the same race, so a police bias or witness bias that cause white suspects to be ignored doesn’t seem like a good explanation. I’ve also talked to an American detective, who noted that most black homicides he investigated were in neighborhoods where white people are very rare and thus stand out, so any white person that was anywhere near the murder victim would be very likely to be remembered by witnesses and investigated by the police (in both cases, for being an irregular occurrence).

            Do you have any exposure to the actual lived experiences of lower-class black Americans other than through the media or activists? The amount of violence they tend to face is truly horrific and nearly all of it comes from their peers.

            As for your dismissal of whataboutism as a neat trick, it doesn’t change the fact that it fails to actually disprove the reality of racial bias and targeting in policing in the US.

            The ‘woke’ narrative is based on the claim that many (or all) injustices and inequalities are due to oppression, where this oppression is due to racism by white against black, sexism by men against women, etc.

            This narrative is at best a half-truth, full of lies and hypocrisy. If the huge over-representation of men as police victims would be acknowledged, then either this would have to be treated as sufficient evidence for oppression of men, which would strike a blow against the claim of systemic oppression of women, or it would have to be acknowledged that it is reasonable for men to be targeted by the police due to men being more violent or such, but this would then strike a blow against the claim that black people are oppressed by the police.

            Yet the woke narrative does neither of these, instead choosing to ignore inconvenient facts that show that narrative to be a lie.

            You ask why am I not worried about men—need I remind you that George Floyd was a man?

            Yet when it concerns black people, the claim is that ‘all lives matter’ is not acceptable, because there is a huge issue specifically with violence against black people, that needs to be addressed specifically.

            Are you going to argue that this is wrong or are you going to argue that we also need ‘male lives matter?’ Or will you just accuse people who demand consistency of ‘whataboutism’ again?

            Which…is because we don’t live in a reality where men have been treated unjustly by institutions that have for centuries been run and dominated by women?

            Do we live in the same reality? The one were men were sent off to die in wars? Where many men were once forced to work for 14-16 hours a day, 6 days a week? Are you sure that you haven’t been fed a cherry-picked version of history where the hardships that women experience(d) got framed as ‘oppression of women,’ but not the hardships that men experience(d)?

            and Black women are also more likely than white women to be stopped or experience force.

            You conveniently leave out the fact that white men are stopped more and experience more force than black women. Do you believe that white men are then face more injustices from the police than black women?

          8. @aapje Incredible, your argument bringing homicide into this is not to say that profiling does not exist (which has been refuted by the studies I’ve mentioned anyway), but actually to argue that profiling is acceptable—that a Black person should accept the reality that they’re more likely to be killed by police because most of the people who commit homicide and violent crime look like them. I disagree.

            Although you’re speaking out a lot against wokeness and the hardships of men (which one would trace back to institutions and decisions made largely by other men), they’re all distractions from the point you can’t argue away, which is that US policing data at both population and encounter levels is explained by a systematic bias against Black people.

          9. @markzastrow

            I’m not saying that profiling doesn’t exist, but that it doesn’t cause the huge racial disparity in crime statistics, as you claimed.

            I also never argued that profiling is acceptable (or that it isn’t), but rather, argued that the police focuses their efforts more on groups that have a greater tendency to commit crime and that if one rejects this, one should reject it for all groups that commit crime more often, rather than cherry picking.

            You are free to argue against a straw man, rather than my actual claims, but it doesn’t make for a very productive debate.

          10. Aapje is ignorant, and parroting back refuted statistics and nonsense that has been long discredited….but that’s what happens with his kind. They believe in hoaxes, deny science when it doesn’t fit their myopic view of the world, think the criminal justice system is equal for all, and try to justify their meager beliefs because they are afraid to confront a past and present that has shown their own propensity for lying, stealing, murder, and cruelty. They can’t look in mirrors, because to do so would cast light on their disfigurement, a disfigurement of their very souls that would crush them out of existence. So they look away. Cowards usually do. They can never deal with the real issues, and manipulate or manufacture some drivel to cover their emotional and mental impotence. Typical for this kind.

        3. Most agree that ‘All Lives Matter’ but I guess they stay away from printing it on a t-shirt unless they want to be grouped with the ignorant and racists.

          1. @coldfly

            No, people avoid printing it on t-shirts because intolerant leftists will physically attack those that do, try to get them fired, etc. The elites not only don’t fight this terrorism, but go along with it.

            So anyone who can be hurt by the elites is going to silence themselves, while extremists with little to lose are the only ones who don’t let themselves be silenced. Then people like you get to claim that only extremists use the slogan, so it is a good idea to terrorize people who use it.

          2. Then people like you get to claim that only extremists use the slogan

            As you could’ve read I also claim that ignorant people use it; I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

          3. @coldfly

            Yet somehow you’ve never given me the impression that you have sought out and evaluated alternative points of view. Simply rejecting them as the views of racists and ignoramuses, just makes you a perfect target for propaganda.

            The road to hell is paved with good intentions…

          4. Yet somehow you’ve never given me the impression that you have sought out and evaluated alternative points of view.

            If that’s not ignorant, it’s at least ill-informed had you read my previous entries on this site.
            I do not ‘take a knee’, but respect people who do;
            I do not put #BLM on social media, but respect people who do;
            I respect those who remind us that ‘all lives matter’, but will call them out if they impose that slogan on others;
            I don’t think ‘cancel’ or positive discrimination will stop inequality, but rather awareness and education;
            I oftentimes disagree with your (non F1) views, yet I listen to you and try (once or twice) to explain why I have a different POV.
            I don’t dwell on intentions, but much rather act (even if it’s just speaking up).

            And I apologise if my regular use of sarcasm offends you/others.

    3. You make me ashamed to live in the same country.

    4. Good example of being in bad faith.

      BLM is not against white poeple, but requesting equality for black people, equality that is clearly not the norm is many places. You really need to be on your own planet (to stay positive) or in bad faith not to see this. This coming from snow white here.

  4. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
    5th July 2020, 14:46

    Why, does it say White Lives Don’t Matter?

    1. Because thats what racist peoole think when they heat blm, nobody is saying other lives don’t matter it’s common sense

  5. How many times does it have to be said that the BLM movement is not saying that other lives don’t matter but that casual and systemic racism is causing more harms to black lives than white?

    While every life does matter, we need to be particularly aware of the issues that cause more harm to some because the colour of their skin.

    I’m really getting sick and frustrated by the willful misinterpretation of the BLM protests and the attempted distraction by “whataboutism” that I see here from a very small minority of commenters here on RaceFans. It’s genuinely disgusting.

    I can only think that it is either as a result of ignorance or direct opposition to racial equality.

    1. Saying black lives matter is a slogan most people can agree with. It’s also important to note that there’s a political group called Black Lives Matter that holds some controversial positions such as defunding or abolishing the police among other things. That’s not something many people support and drivers shouldn’t be pressured into getting behind.

  6. Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
    5th July 2020, 16:04

    Ah yes, RaceFans, the outlet that complains every year other outlets are too clickbaity, but will do the exact same thing.

    Making a point about there being a difference how the drivers deal with an issue is the exact issue Norris tried to be ahead off. In vain of course, as everyone will call people who didnt take a knee a racist. We’ll have Lewis to thank for that, as he keeps bringing up that not doing exactly as he does makes you a racist.

    I can’t wait for next week when (hopefully) all this lunacy is behind us and we can go racing normally again. Without the hypocricy.

  7. John Toad (@)
    5th July 2020, 16:29

    Here’s a thought.
    The W racing series is there to promote the rise of women racing drivers.
    Why not invent a racing series to promote the rise of black drivers and race engineers?
    Perhaps the F1 drivers could get together and lend their influence and money to promoting this, instead of relying on empty gestures and virtue signalling.

    1. Nik (@nickelodeon81)
      5th July 2020, 16:46

      Segregation isn’t the answer.

      1. But giving seats to people because of the color of their skin rather than their ability is? Do you think if there were a great minority driver a few layers down from the top that had immense talent, there wouldn’t be someone to snatch them up to a contract? This is all a farce!

    2. As a poor white boy I never had the chance to get into karting/Motorsport – where was my free pass?

    3. Or alternatively one of the drivers could fund (until the sponsorship starts rolling in) a commission to find the reasons why minorities are not coming through the system or staying with STEM subjects during their time at school. Maybe engage with the Royal College of Engineering to lead the study?

  8. Regardless of your views, BLM attest that their core values are to spread a message to raise awareness about racism, police brutality and discriminination, which is fair, it’s the right of the people to express their views, this is freedom of speech and expression. However, I do disagree with factions associated with the movement advocating the destruction of private and public property; and attempting to deface/destroy historical monuments.

    Drivers/atheletes/footballers/anyone should be free to express their views and/or their support for such movements.No one should be compelled to take a knee “just because”. What has happened today, with the 6 drivers not taking a knee is exactly how freedom of expression/speech works. If these guys are vilified going forward, it would be a crying shame.

    Freedom of speech works both ways, as long as this is respected, everything is fine.

    For people bagging this site for reporting what’s being discussed in the media in relation to F1, that’s called reporting. You don’t have to like it, but that the news for you unfortunately.

  9. Sergey Martyn
    5th July 2020, 17:08

    Glad to see Kimi, Max, Daniil, Charles, Antonio and Carlos declined kneeling.
    Is it mandatory yet?
    What’s next?
    Statues of von Trips, Jim Clarke, Fangio etc. toppled to the river?
    And what’s next then?
    Necklacing? (Necklacing is the practice of extrajudicial summary execution and torture carried out by forcing a rubber tire filled with petrol around a victim’s chest and arms, and setting it on fire. This way “the black lives” fought with apartheid in South Africa. The victim may take up to 20 minutes to die, suffering severe burns in the process.
    Nelson Mandela’s wife, Winnie Mandela, publically and openly cheered the mobs on. As far as she was concerned, necklacing wasn’t just a justifiable evil. It was the weapon that would win South Africa’s freedom.
    “We have no guns – we have only stone, boxes of matches and petrol,” she once told a crowd of cheering followers. Together, hand-in-hand, with our boxes of matches and our necklaces we shall liberate this country.”
    Please free the sport from that.

    1. Oh look, more “whataboutism”. Yes, Necklacing is a horrible method of execution and should be roundly condemned. It’s been used in SA in the 80’s and 90’s, Haiti in the same time period, Sri Lanka, India, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria too. It’s not part of an institutionally systemic system of oppression over multiple generations and over centuries. Once again you’re seeking to divert a campaign to end systemic racism with an horrific practice of execution and torture used by different groups across the world for different reasons, none of which are justified.

      The method of marking the support of the drivers to end racism was left to them. Leclerc chose not to kneel, but it was him that grabbed the “end racism” t-shirt for the photo with the pole sitters at the end.

      Thankfully, the sport does not need freeing from Necklacing, but it lack diversity in representation from both the BAME community and women.

      1. John Toad (@)
        5th July 2020, 20:04

        You seem to be saying that you want ‘equality of outcome’ rather than ‘equality of opportunity’
        I suggest you ask Lewis if he would prefer having his car looked after by someone who was chosen to ‘fill a quota’ rather than someone who was the most competent.

        1. I would like equality of opportunity and that is what is missing. In the wider sense I’d like a black person to be able to walk down a street without fearing how a white person might feel threatened.

          In the narrow sense I’d like the BAME to be given the same opportunities that (in the UK) the other communities are given. The BAME community is underrepresented at university in the UK, and that’s the route into high performance engineering roles which are prominent in F1 teams (https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/universities-bame-students-inequality-oxbridge-race-a8837771.html).

          1. And yet equality is enshrined in law in the UK and businesses and universities across the country are actively diversifying the workplace/campus. Protestors make a lot of noise about the need for “change” without really saying anything of substance. What should change? If you see yourself as a victim then that’s self-fulfilling.

          2. Then you should be fighting hard against radical feminism. This hateful ideology has been encouraging hate against men for a century. It makes women view all men as potential rapists.

      2. Again. Balto-Slavs and Finno-Ugric people never had slavery and black population. Even now black people are less than 0,01% of Eastern Europe population. And mostly students, not permanent residents. So this western domestic issue does not apply to us. We have a lot of our own problems to care.

        That inter-ethnical inequality and hostility happens to be all around the world. Often in far worse conditions that you can’t even imaging from USA. Did you ever care? And all USA people, even black, are living in far more prosperous conditions than more than 2/3 of the planet. Did you ever care for them? They can’t afford housing, modern cars, $700 phones, new clothes every season, power gaming PCs, consoles, TVs, kitchens appliances etc etc. Did you ever care? And there are hundreds of millions of people living without fresh water, electricity, utilities and other basic things you wouldn’t even imaging to live without. But you want entire world to sympathize to unequal, but still rich and prosperous, social slice living in USA. Well, unlikely. As most poor countries happens to be poor as a result of USA external policy.

    2. Can we just rename this site Racistfans and be done with it @keithcollantine if you’re going to stand here and allow this show of blatant bigotry in this and other comment pages about the subject of BLM and racism.

      1. Agreed. I’m very tempted to cancel my subscription and leave the site to be swamped by the bigots.

        1. Surely you can comprehend that someone can be anti-racist and anti-BLM, as a political body. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive. Just easier to throw words like “bigot” around though eh?

      2. Where is the bigotry? I don’t see it anywhere. Oh that’s right, we’re all just supposed to kiss BLM ass and not actually think for ourselves, right?

    3. That Other Guy
      5th July 2020, 20:13

      It is these kind of responses that shows what education of racism is all about. Some don’t know that they are racist and therefore don’t have a clue about inequality and the treatment others go through. Sorry but you mentioning necklacing in South Africa and the words of those who encouraged it do not know what brought it on cause you point out what the black person did to another human being but have no clue what led to that. The world was not shown and things that were done was too unbelievable to report or broadcast to the world what white people did to black people in South Africa. Stuff you see in horror movies, treatment of fellow human beings that is beyond believe and then laughed at at parties. Im sorry but all Lewis mentioned in interviews about education and awareness is what you need cause your subconscious racism is consuming you and you are totally blinded by it. Its sad

  10. Kneeling during the anthem was originally Colin Kaepernick protesting perceived police brutality in the US. It seems out of place for the Formula One community to show up in Austria and say “Thanks for helping us out with two Grand Prix, by the way we’re kneeling for your anthem because of your systemic racism”.
    Showing solidarity for a message against racism is great, but kneeling can easily be interpreted as a protest against a countries’ institutions. Are we doing that all over the world?

  11. A saying that many people that identify themselves with being an American is….”I Stand for the Flag and Kneel Only for God”. If some activists want to mix loyalty to ones God or country with racism and embarrass their countrymen, well many of us fought and some died to give them that right.

    1. I think you do very well embarrassing yourselves lately whether some take a knee or not.

    2. ColdFly (@)
      6th July 2020, 0:38

      many of us fought and some died to give them that right.

      Which war was that when ‘many of you’ gave them (or even defended) the right of freedom of speech?

  12. How ironic that an act to create unity did the opposite and created false speculations about racism.

  13. Man, I surely expected more reasonable an open-minded comments from people on this website. Every single driver is using an “End Racism” t-shirt, and this is being openly supported by the people running the show. No one is kneeling “to someone”, they are kneeling “against something”. @keithcollantine I don’t know what is your stance on the matter, but I know that Formula One as a whole does not stand with the mindset and values being expressed by many in this comment section.

    1. I’ll wear a T-shirt that says End Racism, I won’t wear one that says Black Lives Matter. One is political, the other is not.

    2. Hans van Voonebosch
      6th July 2020, 7:53

      @ifuel Ah, so you’re only allowed to have one opinion, and being critical is no longer allowed. Good to know.

      I think it is really sad that some people seem to think there should be no room for debate on this matter.

  14. If you are white and you feel that #BLM is somehow not recognising your life then here is a great quote from an American pastor explaining what Black Lives Matter means.

    Remember the #BLM movement was born because of inequality. It is saying ‘Black Lives Matter Too‘ to a society where they don’t matter as much.

    Some posters on this site have said what about white people born into poverty. Do their lives not matter? Being black is not like being poor. If you are born black you will always be black, (even if you are as wealthy and successful as Lewis Hamilton), and some people will always treat you badly – it is not the same as being poor.

    Here is the quote by Daniel S. Schatz.

    “Of course all lives matter. Sadly, our society has a long history of treating some people as less valuable than others. Study after study has confirmed that in equivalent situations, African Americans and Latinos are treated with deadly force far more often than White people, and authorities held less accountable. Unfortunately, racial bias continues to exist even when it is no longer conscious—this too is confirmed by multiple studies. A lack of accountability in the use of force combined with unconscious bias is too often a deadly combination – and one that could place police officers, as well as the public, in great danger.

    To say that Black lives matter is not to say that other lives do not; indeed, it is quite the reverse—it is to recognize that all lives do matter, and to acknowledge that African Americans are often targeted unfairly.

    As a White man, I have never been followed by security in a department store, or been stopped by police for driving through a neighborhood in which I didn’t live. My African American friends have, almost to a person, had these experiences. Some have been through incidents that were far worse.”

    Whilst I’m bored of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes winning everything, I have massive respect for what he is bringing to the sport and the world by his involvement in #BLM. So please don’t see BLM as a threat – it is a necessary movement towards a more equal and safe world.

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