F1 Today – British Prixview – 30/06/2022
Hamilton questions why archaic views are given platform
Lewis Hamilton has issued a passionate and dignified response to Nelson Piquet’s comments, questioning why “we are giving older voices a platform” but also insisting he will “take the high road” and that the scandal will not deter him from striving for progress on and off the track.
In his press briefing ahead of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton said, “I’ve been on the receiving end of racism, criticism, negativity, archaic narratives and undertones of discrimination for a long, long time, and there’s nothing really particularly new for me. I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform.”
“They’re speaking upon our sport and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different. If we’re looking to grow in the US, other countries, South Africa, we need to look to the future and give the younger people a platform, who are more representative of today’s time.”
Ahead of this weekend, the sport finds itself at the centre of controversy, as well as the comments by Piquet, former CEO Bernie Ecclestone has defended Piquet as well as the decision by Russia to invade Ukraine, both being widely condemned by the sport.
Hamilton added, “We should not be giving these people a platform,” he stated. “Discrimination is not something we should be projecting and promoting, giving a platform to divide people. We need to be bringing people together, we are all the same.”
When asked if he had lost respect for these older figures, he said he has always tried to be respectful, but questioned why they had a platform because they weren’t willing to change.
He quoted former US first lady Michelle Obama saying “’when they go low, go high’ so I try to continue to do that, I’m inspired by people like that.”
Piquet “not correct” and “not a racist” – Verstappen
Max Verstappen says Nelson Piquet’s comment made towards Lewis Hamilton was “not correct”, but the three-time champion is “definitely not a racist”. Piquet who is the father of Verstappen’s girlfriend has been condemned widely for the comments he made last year, but have recently resurfaced.
Speaking about the matter for the first time on Thursday at Silverstone, Verstappen said it was not correct for Piquet to have used the term he did. Verstappen said. “I think the wording that was used, even though of course with different kinds of cultures and things they said when they were little and younger, was not correct.”
“Let it be a lesson for the future not to use that word, because it’s very offensive, and especially nowadays, it gains more traction.” But Verstappen denied that Piquet was racist, saying: “I’ve spent a bit of time with Nelson, I think more than the average person in general, and he’s definitely not a racist.”
He says Piquet is a really nice and relaxed guy, while believing the word can be used in two ways it was still better not to use it. Verstappen said he had not spoken to Piquet about the matter, saying it was “not up to me” to discuss it with him.
Asked if he agreed with the paddock ban that had been handed to Piquet in light of the incident, Verstappen said he thought it was “better to open the conversation instead of banning”.
Hamilton announces first diversity grants
The Ignite Partnership has announced its first grants as part of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s push to increase diversity and inclusion within motorsport. The initiative was launched this time last year by Hamilton and his Mercedes team and is coordinated by his Mission 44 charitable foundation.
The first recipients are Motorsport UK and the Royal Academy of Engineering, who will receive over £500,000 from an initial total of £5 million of seed funding.
Motorsport UK’s funding will be focused on female participation in grassroots motorsport through the FIA Girls on Track initiative, which has been running since 2016. It now has a focus on “developing new partnerships to reach more communities with high representation from low-income and minority ethnic groups”.
The Royal Academy of Engineering programme will back Masters-level motorsport engineering scholarships for Black students, and will support at least ten successful candidates on MSc courses across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, selecting five each year from final year undergraduates.
Hamilton says the grants are just the start of a long-term programme while highlighting the context of recent controversies involving Nelson Piquet and Juri Vips.
“I’m very proud to see Ignite announcing our first two grants today. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes since launching and I’m delighted that Mercedes and I can continue to demonstrate our commitment towards creating a more diverse industry in this way.”
“We chose these grants because they focus on supporting individuals from two crucial and underrepresented demographics, moving us towards our goal of increasing the number of women and Black talent in the sport.”
The events of the last week Hamilton says have highlighted the need for better representation in the industry, saying “The events of this week have shown us why there continues to be an urgent need to push for better representation in our industry.
“More than ever we must focus on how we can use action to change motorsport for the better and this is an exciting next step.”
Copse one year on
Max Verstappen says there are no hard feelings with Lewis Hamilton following their opening lap crash at Copse on the opening lap of last year’s British Grand Prix. The two title contenders’ crash on the opening lap resulted in the Dutchman suffering a 51G impact with the barrier.
Verstappen had to be taken to hospital for precautionary checks as a result of the accident, and while Hamilton was given a 10-second time penalty for being predominantly to blame, he went on to still win the race. It became a flash point in the battle.
Verstappen took issue to Hamilton’s celebrations while he was in hospital, and felt he deserved a bigger penalty.
A series of remarks from Red Bull senior figures Christian Horner and Helmut Marko against Hamilton prompted Mercedes to hit back and say the attacks had become too personal. Hamilton was also subject to racist abuse online in the wake of the crash.
A year on from the accident, Verstappen leads the championship as Hamilton struggles to get to grips with the new regulations. Speaking to GP Racing, the Red Bull driver said he felt “good” returning to Silverstone and that there was no lingering ill-feeling over what happened.
Verstappen said of Silverstone “Of course, the crash wasn’t nice, but I love the track I love going there. It’s [a] really good atmosphere with Formula 1, and we’re going really quick around there.”
“So I don’t have any hard feelings. And I also think very easily I can put these things aside. Of course, it wasn’t nice what happened, but at the end of the day, you deal with it. It wasn’t a nice impact for me personally, but we go out there again and try to win of course.”
While Verstappen tends to enjoy the lion’s share of support at most European circuits from his travelling Dutch fanbase, much of the expected crowd of over 400,000 over three days at Silverstone are likely to be cheering on seven-time world champion Hamilton, as well as teammate George Russell and Lando Norris.
But Verstappen said he felt zero concerns about the reception from the crowd: “The good thing is, once we jump in the car with the helmet on, you don’t hear anything. And they love motorsport. I mean, it’s such a big history in England in general, right?
Silverstone a “good reference” for Sainz
Carlos Sainz says this weekend’s British Grand Prix would be a “good reference” in terms of how comfortable he feels with the Ferrari. The Spaniard struggled to adapt to the car in the opening races however at the last three races have delivered strong results and was even locked into a battle for victory in Montreal with Max Verstappen.
The Spaniard says that, after the three street or temporary tracks, Silverstone is more akin to Barcelona, the last venue where he really had a difficult time with the car. Sainz accepts however while his form has been encouraging, this weekend would be a useful test of how much progress he has really made.
When asked by Motorsport.com if Montreal had provided a confidence boost, he said “Yeah, I’m a bit more excited, not only from Canada but also Baku, Monaco, I’ve had a few decent weekends on the car now.”
“I think Silverstone is going to represent more of a challenge, because it’s closer to what Barcelona was, which is the circuit that I’ve struggled the most up until now. So I think it’s going to be a good reference for me to see how much I’ve moved on, and how much have I really improved with this car.”
Sainz will also have a chassis change for this weekend, but again said he knows he has to be patient as he seeks that elusive first win.
Williams set for an interesting weekend
Alex Albon says that Williams’s latest aero upgrades follow the general concept used by rivals such as Red Bull. For his home Grand Prix, his car has been fitted with a major upgrade to the floor and bodywork ahead of practice at Silverstone.
Teammate Nicholas Latifi will have a standard car, enabling the Grove team to run a proper back-to-back comparison through the weekend. when asked about the changes by Motorsport.com Albon said, “It’s an interesting weekend for us, we haven’t had major upgrades for a while, and, of course, it’s going to look visibly different.”
“It should perform, hopefully, a bit better than the previous package we had. So, only time will tell, we have some running to do. We need to get on top of the balance as quickly as we can, and try and get into the weekend hitting the ground running.”
The British-Thai driver said that the upgrade would look more like the rest of the grid, believing that all the teams are moving towards a similar concept. He says that there has been a move by all the teams towards either a Ferrari or Red Bull concept.
Adding “I think what you’ll see is it’ll look more towards what the rest of the grid looks like. I think as you’ve seen, everyone’s been going towards a certain concept. I think, as we know, everyone started a bit different. It’s either the kind of the Ferrari concept, or the Red Bull concept, that seems to be adopted.”
He believed that it will be a very good update admit reports it could be worth a second a lap, but Albon said they would be happy if that was true the team wouldn’t know until they start driving the car.
Friday practice sessions for Williams will be about figuring out how to set up the car, with him saying they could have a very different car for Saturday as well as going into the rest of the season.
Asked what benefit he would like to see from the package, Albon said: “In terms of positioning, obviously we want to be fighting more into Q2 more into the midfield, more into the points. A very good weekend for us right now, when we put it all together is, is at the very bottom of the points, slash P11/P12.”
Albon says the team accepted that they were not quick enough and there was even a gap to the ninth in the constructors.
Vips keeps F2 drive
Juri Vips will keep his seat in F2 with Hitech despite being sacked by Red Bull after using homophobic and racist language during a online gaming session with fellow junior drivers.
The Estonian’s Hitech team have decided to retain him so he can “demonstrate genuine and sincere remorse”. F2 said the decision was “surprising” and “not one we would have taken.”
Vips issued a statement last week apologising for using the slur, saying his language had been “entirely unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles I hold”.
Hitech team principal Oliver Oakes said the team had “never condoned racism or offensive behaviour in any forms”. Oakes said that having his contract terminated by Red Bull was “a crushing experience” for Vips and “a deservedly severe punishment”.
But he added: “If we live in a society where no one can make a mistake, then genuinely apologise, have the chance for redemption and learn from it, what does it say about society?”
Vips has already issued a statement last week apologising for using the slur, saying his language had been “entirely unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles I hold”.
Piquet apologies for “ill-thought” comments
Nelson Piquet says his racially abusive remark about Lewis Hamilton was “ill-thought out”. In a podcast released in November last year, the two-time champion used a racially offensive term when discussing the battle between Hamilton and his daughters Kelly’s boyfriend Max Verstappen.
Piquet said he “strongly condemned any suggestion the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour. I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis.”
Hamilton had said on Tuesday that “archaic mindsets need to change”, adding: “It’s more than language. Adding “I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”
The Brazilian while accepting that there was “no defence” for his remarks and “would have never used the remarks if he knew the translation.” Explained the term he used “is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend”.
Sources in F1 have said that Piquet, who won the 1981, 1983 and 1987 world titles, will not be allowed back into an F1 paddock following his comments.
He has long been a controversial character renowned for making provocative and insulting remarks about rivals. Last year, he courted further controversy when he chauffeured Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on the country’s Independence Day.
On Tuesday, Brazilian novelist and lyricist Paulo Coelho condemned Piquet on social media. Coelho wrote. “Piquet is currently the driver of the worst president in our history. His racist remarks show the desperate need to return to the spotlight. I apologise in the name of the Brazilian people, who respect and love you”
Recently a bill was introduced to the Brazilian parliament to grant the seven-time champion honorary citizenship.
The sport has rallied for Hamilton since Piquet’s remarks, which were condemned by F1, governing body the FIA and Hamilton’s Mercedes team, while rivals Ferrari and McLaren also offered their support.
Red Bull, whose driver Max Verstappen is the partner of Piquet’s daughter Kelly, have not commented.
On Tuesday a number of drivers also came to Hamilton’s support. Teammate and GPDA director George Russell said “Huge respect to LH. He has done more for the sport than any driver in history, not just on track but off it. The fact that he and so many others are still having to deal with this behaviour is unacceptable.”
While Charles Leclerc added “Knowing Lewis since I arrived in F1, he has always been extremely respectful to me and everyone that he meets. Those values should be the standard towards anybody around the world. We need to remove discriminatory behaviour and racist language in any form, from not just our sport, but our society as well.”
Norris speaks about death threats
Lando Norris has revealed that he has received death threats on social media and that “not enough gets done” to tackle the issue. The McLaren driver has become one of the most popular drivers on social media through his gaming and other exploits on Twitch where he often plays games.
Last year, he spoke about the dark side of fame and the murky undercurrent of “F1 Twitter” which he found himself at the brunt of in his rookie year. Speaking openly about depression and his decision to step away from day-to-day running of his accounts.
He told The Sun newspaper, “”I get death threats every now and then. Most people do. Not enough gets done and it is tough. If I had seen the threats when I started in 2019, it would have had more effect.”
“But now I understand when you have to laugh — not laugh at a death threat — but laugh at the silly comments people come up with and things they try to create to get attention.”
“I want to race, travel the world, meet new people and create new experiences — and they are using their one life sat behind a computer in their bedroom looking to try and ruin, annoy and bully someone.”
Norris revealed that his girlfriend the portugese model Luisinha Oliveira has been subjected to “horrific” messages after going from a “normal life” to having an influx of followers online.
He says there are hate pages dedicated to Oliveira. Norris says that has been difficult for her to be involved in quickly, having to be more careful what she posts on social media.
Adding “At least in racing, you kind of go through it slowly and learn to adapt to it — from Formula Four, Formula Three, Formula Two and then Formula One. But having gone from never watching a Formula One race to suddenly being in that limelight is extremely tough and then to have to read the comments, too.”
Norris, who is seventh in the drivers’ championship behind Lewis Hamilton, added different drivers get treated differently by fans online.
Adding. “A lot of the comments are to do with my driving and accusations that different drivers get treated differently. Just because I’m British and driving in a British team, everyone thinks there’s always a bias for that.”
Ecclestone defends Putin and Piquet
Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has defended Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, saying he would “take a bullet” for the Russian President, while also claiming Lewis Hamilton “should be happy” that Nelson Piquet apologised for his use of a racial slur.
Speaking to ITV News Good Morning Britain this morning, the former F1 boss and driver defended Putin saying he “believed he was doing the right thing for Russia”, and blamed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for failing to engage in dialogue with his counterpart.
Formula One quickly distanced itself from the remarks in a statement which read: “The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.”
Ecclestone said of Putin “Unfortunately he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, that we make mistakes from time to time and when you make the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it. The other person in Ukraine, his profession I understand, used to be a comedian – and I think it seems that he wants to continue that profession.”
“I think if he’d thought about things, he would definitely have made a big enough effort to speak to Putin, who is a sensible person, and would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it.”
When pointed out that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, Mr Ecclestone simply replied: “It wasn’t intentional”. He claimed that the war wasn’t intentional and Ukraine could have gotten out of the war if they wanted to.
When then asked about Piquet’s use of a racial slur in reference to Hamilton, Ecclestone claimed that Hamilton should be “happy” that he has received an apology and should just “brush aside” the remark.
He said, “I’ve known Nelson for an awful long time. I was with him a couple of weeks ago. It’s not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad. He probably thinks lots of things he says which might upset us or might feel a little bit offensive…. to him it’s nothing. It’s just part of conversation.”
Ecclestone says Piquet would never go out of his way to say anything bad, but the incidents between Verstappen and Hamilton last year would have “probably exploded and carried that forward.” He accepted that the comments was not appropriate with us.
The weekend ahead
The big question I feel this weekend is about if Ferrari can hit back against Red Bull, like I wrote before in Montreal I feel that Charles Leclerc needs to over the next month needs to start taking points away from Max Verstappen. July in my view is always an important month, its about getting momentum going into the summer break.
This I believe is more a Ferrari circuit as is a circuit with long straights and fast flowing corners, where I think they are falling behind Red Bull is on strategy and taking opportunities. Historically this has been a good circuit for them holding the win record, can they use that to their advantage, they were very quick in Barcelona.
The weekend is going to be about building into it this is in my view a hybrid circuit between modern circuit with tarmac runoff but with gravel if you go too far. This circuit is high speed with big braking points that can place demands on the brakes and lead to crashes, safety cars and retirements.
This race despite being in summer can be affected by rain and changeable conditions this was an airfield, meaning weather can blow in. The race is also hard on tyres and can favour drivers who can manage the tyres and this season the strategy because we have seen races lost this season by strategy and mistakes.
Watch out for Alpine I think its another race where they could be strong but the question I think are they becoming a threat to Mercedes in the battle for third. McLaren are also a team to watch I feel and they need to watch, while its been a hit and miss season, this circuit does present them with opportunities.