All Things Sports

Hi guys, welcome back to All Things Sports, I am Vedant Khadiya. In late 2022, the head governing body of international motorsport, including Formula 1, announced that drivers would be required to obtain permission to display religious, political, or personal statements and that anyone found making non-neutral statements that violated the FIA’s policy of neutrality unless otherwise approved would be found to be in violation of the Sporting Code, the document that governs all sanctioned motorsport. Now this essentially means that drivers will not be allowed to make political statements on their t-shirts, race helmets, etcetera whilst racing. This comes after a rise in political displays in support of action against climate change, Black Lives Matter, and the LGBTQIA+ community by drivers such as Lewis Hamilton(the GOAT) and the now retired Sebastian Vettel(miss you already Seb). Now this may seem like a good thing at first, removing politics from sport and some such as Zak Brown of Mclaren F1 have even supported it. However, this completely violates the drivers rights to free speech and people like Zak Brown represent the minority opinion of Formula 1. From Lewis Hamilton to Lando Norris to Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, a majority of Formula 1 has spoken out against the ban. Even Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Boss, went against the ban. Guys, you know something is messed up when both Mercedes and Red Bull agree that it is bad. 

The FIA has received so much backlash since the ban was announced that they had to announce some clarifications to the ban that specified that drivers could still make political statements, but only in certain situations. This is simply not good enough. The fact that drivers must be censored so that the FIA can appease countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia is appalling. Formula 1 is in a unique position due to the nature of its sport. Each race is unique, its own spectacle with its own trophy. This makes it so that drivers have a massive platform each time they compete. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Lando Norris have used this platform to promote issues such as climate change, racial equality, and mental health and call for change. This is incredibly important as they are very influential figures that can have a very positive impact on society if they wished to.  Denying them an opportunity to make the world a better place is simply unethical. It violates their rights to freedom of expression at the fundamental level. And for what? So that you can make money in Saudi Arabia? So you can hold races in Qatar? So you can keep racing the streets of Azerbaijan? You are going to deny drivers an opportunity to move society forward? While some may say that politics and sport should stay separate, it is important to acknowledge the power that sport can have as a force for good. Being able to protest, express, and empower through sport is a beautiful thing that can be used to make the world a better place. Yes, there are times when politics and sport should stay separate, I am not going to refute that. But what this ban does is it allows the FIA to cozy up to nations that simply do not deserve the glamor, fame and recognition that motorsport can bring. 

This isn’t about neutrality as the FIA may claim or keeping politics and sport separate, it is about money and greed. Greed that is preventing people from speaking the truth. Greed that is preventing drivers from creating a better world. Greed that is allowing nations such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia to legitimize their actions through things such as hosting F1 races. Now I’m not saying the drivers can fix everything and that all problems will be solved here either, but any opportunity to make the world a better place must be seized. Millions upon millions of people watch motorsport every year and this presents a huge opportunity to make the world a better place. Denying people an opportunity to make something better is fundamentally immoral and for morality alone this ban needs to go.