The FIA have been widely condemned after they announced that Formula 1 drivers like Sir Lewis Hamilton are now forbidden from making political, religious or personal statements without prior written consent.
Over the past few years, drivers have been increasingly willing to make political gestures before, during and after grand prix weekends.
Hamilton and fellow world champion Sebastian Vettel especially have highlighted issues such as Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights and climate change.
However, if anyone on the grid wishes to make a similar gesture in the future, they must first get approval from the governing body.
In an amendment to the sporting code, the following will now be deemed a breach of the rules: ‘The general making and display of political, religious and personal statements or comments notably in violation of the general principle of neutrality promoted by the FIA under its Statutes, unless previously approved in writing by the FIA for International Competitions, or by the relevant ASN for National Competitions within their jurisdiction.’
The change has received fierce backlash with some accusing the FIA of effectively banning free speech, while others have compared it to the way FIFA threatened teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Several players were forced to abandon plans to wear the ‘One Love’ armband after FIFA said that anyone who did would be instantly shown a yellow card.
‘It is blatantly hypocritical to tell athletes to stick to their sports and stay out of politics while the FIA consistently leverage politics to their advantage,’ Rob Koehler, the chief executive of Global Athlete, told The Telegraph.
‘Freedom of expression is a basic fundamental human right and sport rules cannot supersede human rights. Many people look up to athletes as agents of change.
‘The example set by the FIA is that every child, youth and adult watching the sport should remain silent on social justice issues. It is simply wrong. Shame on the FIA.
‘Athletes are humans first, athletes second. Without athletes, the sport does not exist.’
‘In 2020 athletes took a stand against the IOC and IPC [International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee] to force them to relax their rules on freedom of expression. I hope the drivers do the same. This is brutal.’
At the time of writing, no drivers have responded to the FIA’s rule change but one can expect the likes of Hamilton to have some strong opinions on the matter when the new season gets underway in March.
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