Category Archives: Lewis Hamilton

Brother of man executed by Saudi Arabia says F1 legitimises ‘heinous crimes’

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  • Yasser al-Khayyat’s brother one of 81 men executed on single day
  • ‘If you truly want to be an agent for change, end F1’s silence’

The brother of a man executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities last year has accused Formula One of being complicit in “heinous crimes” perpetrated by the state, which he insists is using F1 to sportswash an increasingly oppressive crackdown on dissent.

When F1 returns to the Jeddah circuit this weekend it will be just over a year since the Saudi state executed 81 men in one day, shortly before last year’s grand prix. Afterwards the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, reported the UN believed that, of the 81 convicted of “terror offences”, 41 were from the Shia minority who had taken part in anti-government protests, calling for greater political participation.

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F1 faces calls to quit Saudi Arabia while prisoner’s family asks Hamilton to help

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  • Abdullah al-Howaiti arrested aged 14, sentenced to death at 17
  • Human rights group Reprieve highlights protesters’ executions

The human rights group Reprieve has demanded Formula One ends its association with Saudi Arabian sportswashing after the family of a teenager sentenced to death wrote to Lewis Hamilton pleading with him to speak out on their son’s behalf before this weekend’s race.

In documents sent from Abdullah al-Howaiti’s prison cell and seen by the Guardian, he cites the torture and abuse he says he has suffered at the hands of the Saudi authorities as F1 once more prepares to race in the country that recently carried out 81 executions in a single day. In a report issued in January, a group of UN experts classified some of Saudi Arabia’s violations of international law as potentially “crimes against humanity” as the state continues to execute minors.

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Verstappen crowned world champion but Mercedes to appeal against result

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  • Mercedes could take case to court of arbitration for sport
  • Hamilton skips post-race press conference after heartbreak

Max Verstappen celebrated winning his first Formula One world championship with victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but only after huge controversy, that still leaves his title in some doubt.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are angry at a win they felt had been unfairly snatched away and which remains under debate with Mercedes intending to appeal against the stewards’ decision and the option of taking their case to the court of arbitration for sport. The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, has made clear his intention to oppose any attempt to strip his driver of the title.

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Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen in F1 title fight – live!

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“Here we are then,” tweets Guy Hornsby, “finally a season for the ages after so many dominant Merc years. I love Lewis, but even he’d have wanted more of a challenge. I really hope we don’t get a clip, puncture, limp to the pits and all over. Head says Max, heart says Lewis. Yikes.”

It’s a funny thing about sport that some of the best ever are best remembered for the ones they lost – Muhammad Ali 1971, Australia 2005, Roger Federer 2008. But otherwise, it’s tricky – you’d probably prefer to be Verstappen, given he’s in pole, but Hamilton’s car is quicker. And, of course, the big unknown is whether the changes to the circuit will make overtaking easier.

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Lewis Hamilton distances himself from F1 team Kingspan deal

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British driver says he had ‘nothing’ to do with sponsorship deal with company linked to Grenfell fire

Lewis Hamilton has distanced himself from his Formula One team’s partnership deal with Kingspan, an insulation company linked to the Grenfell Tower fire, saying he had nothing to do with the decision.

He also cast doubt on Kingspan branding remaining on his Mercedes car.

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Lewis Hamilton’s F1 team under pressure to scrap Grenfell cladding firm deal

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Sponsorship deal with Kingspan sparked furious backlash from the Grenfell community

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes Formula One team is facing growing pressure to scrap a sponsorship deal with a firm that made combustible insulation on Grenfell Tower, after the government threatened to change advertising rules.

The racing team’s deal with Kingspan will mean the logo of the firm that made some of the foam boards used on the tower will be emblazoned on the nose cone of cars driven by Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas starting at this weekend’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

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Grenfell survivors outraged by Lewis Hamilton car sponsorship deal

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F1 champion will race carrying branding of company that made combustible boards used on tower

The seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is facing protests from Grenfell survivors over a “truly shocking” sponsorship deal that will see his racing car emblazoned with the logo of a firm that made combustible insulation used on the tower.

Kingspan has been named as an official partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, for which Hamilton is the star driver, and its branding is set to feature on Hamilton’s car starting at this weekend’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

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Lewis Hamilton praised after wearing rainbow helmet in Qatar GP practice

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  • Hamilton earns praise for LGBTQ+ ‘incredible act of allyship’
  • World champion has criticised Qatar’s human rights record

Lewis Hamilton has been praised for “an incredible act of allyship” after wearing a rainbow-coloured helmet in practice at the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix.

The seven-time Formula One world champion’s helmet bore the colours of the Progress Pride flag – a banner which includes the traditional rainbow design with additional colours that recognise the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Lewis Hamilton: ‘Everything I’d suppressed came up – I had to speak out’

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He’s the most successful driver Formula One has ever seen, and its only Black star. Now Lewis Hamilton has a new mission: to change the sport that made him.

As Lewis Hamilton rose through the ranks of competitive go-karting, his father, Anthony, told him: “Always do your talking on the track.” Lewis had a lot to talk about. Bullying and racial taunts were a consistent feature of his childhood in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, a new town 30 miles north of London; his dad taught him the best response was to excel at his sport.

The trouble was he didn’t have many people to talk to about what he was going through. Lewis is mixed-race, born to a white mother, Carmen Larbalestier, who raised him until he was 12, when he went to live with his Grenadian-British father, from whom she had separated. “My mum was wonderful,” he tells me. “She was so loving. But she didn’t fully understand the impact of the things I was experiencing at school. The bullying and being picked on. And my dad was quite tough, so I didn’t tell him too much about those experiences. As a kid I remember just staying quiet about it because I didn’t feel anyone really understood. I just kept it to myself.” Sport offered him an outlet. “I did boxing because I needed to channel the pain,” he says. “I did karate because I was being beaten up and I wanted to be able to defend myself.”

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Arise Sir Lewis: Hamilton given knighthood in new year honours list

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  • Rob Burrow awarded MBE for work on MND awareness
  • Anne Keothavong among those also handed honours

A stunning 12 months for Lewis Hamilton on and off the track, which included equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven Formula One titles and becoming an increasingly powerful voice for diversity in his sport, has ended with a knighthood in the new year honours list. The 35-year-old becomes the fourth F1 driver to be knighted after two fellow Britons, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart, and Australia’s Sir Jack Brabham.

There had been a question mark over whether Hamilton, who also surpassed Schumacher’s record of grand prix victories in 2020, would be knighted given he lives in the tax haven of Monaco. But it was reported that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, had personally intervened to ensure Hamilton would be rewarded for his sporting achievements.

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Lewis Hamilton tests positive for Covid-19 and will miss F1 Sakhir GP

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  • World champion had ‘mild symptoms’ after Bahrain win
  • Hamilton tested positive before second race at venue

Lewis Hamilton will miss this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after testing positive for coronavirus.

The seven-time Formula One world champion is in isolation after his positive result was announced on Tuesday morning.

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Lewis Hamilton’s win at Bahrain GP overshadowed by Grosjean’s huge crash

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  • Romain Grosjean walks away from flaming wreck of car
  • Hamilton wins race after long-delayed restart

Climbing from a raging fireball and the twisted wreckage of his car, Romain Grosjean, and indeed Formula One, enjoyed what might be considered a miraculous escape at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The entire paddock and viewers around the world held their breath when the French driver smashed into trackside barriers, his car splitting in two and being engulfed in flames. The visceral, violent and horrifying scale of the accident was sickening and yet Grosjean emerged relatively unscathed, a remarkable testament to the drive for safety the sport has relentlessly pursued.

Such is F1’s recent safety record the perception of motorsport’s extraordinary danger has perhaps been diminished. With Grosjean hurtling through the brutal moments of distorting metal and fiery heat, the notion was dispelled completely.

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F1 has ‘massive’ problem to address over human rights, says Lewis Hamilton

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  • Bahrain’ regime has been accused of sportswashing
  • ‘As a sport we need to do more,’ says world champion

Lewis Hamilton has insisted that Formula One has a “consistent and massive” problem it must address with human rights abuses in countries it visits. The world champion was speaking in Bahrain which has been accused of sportswashing, torture and oppression this week and is to host the first of two consecutive races this weekend.

This week Hamilton was asked to address the issue in letters sent to him by three Bahraini citizens alleging they had been victims of oppression and torture by the Bahraini authorities. He said he would be considering their content in detail in the forthcoming days but was unequivocal that F1 had to make steps to address human rights abuses in the countries it visits.

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Lewis Hamilton: ‘Watching George Floyd brought up so much suppressed emotion’

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Hamilton has just equalled the record of seven F1 world championships – many believe he is the greatest driver of all time. And this year, more than ever, he has been leading the fight against racism

At the end of 2019, Lewis Hamilton had a realisation about Formula One. “I was looking at pictures of all the teams – they do these team photos in front of the garage or on the track – and they’ve posted all these pictures and I’m like, there are no people of colour in any of these teams.”

Hamilton says he had always thought that his presence and his incredible success would “spark change”. Somewhat naively, he now acknowledges he thought his career as the world’s most successful racing driver – along with the presence of his dad, Anthony, and his racing driver brother, Nicolas – would be enough to “open up doorways” for others. The realisation that after all these years it wasn’t happening led him to rethink.

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Lewis Hamilton wins Turkish GP to clinch record-equalling seventh F1 title

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  • Briton now level with Michael Schumacher on championships
  • Mercedes star comes through rain after starting sixth on grid

Lewis Hamilton delivered high drama and high emotion for the spectacle of a coronation worthy of one of the greatest champions Formula One has produced. His victory at the Turkish Grand Prix sealed the championship and his seventh title. With it Hamilton has achieved what was once thought impossible, matching Michael Schumacher’s record tally and in doing so becoming the most successful F1 driver of all time.

He could not have achieved it in greater style than with the panache and mastery he produced at Istanbul Park in what can rightly be described as a champion’s drive.

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Bernie Ecclestone says black people are often ‘more racist’ than white people

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  • Former F1 chief says the sport is ‘too busy’ to deal with racism
  • Ecclestone also questions Lewis Hamilton’s experiences

Bernie Ecclestone has claimed black people are “more racist” than white people and said Formula One has been “too busy” to deal with racism in an astonishing television interview.

The former chief executive of Formula One and a name synonymous with the sport said in an exchange with CNN that racism “makes me so upset”. He also said he did not think Lewis Hamilton’s experiences of racism had affected the driver. Hamilton, the six-times world champion, recently said he had felt the “stigma of racism” throughout his F1 career.

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Lewis Hamilton hails ‘best and toughest season’ after sixth F1 world title

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• Mercedes driver completes third championship in a row
• Valtteri Bottas wins US Grand Prix with Hamilton second

Lewis Hamilton said that 2019 has been his best and toughest season after he secured his sixth world title on Sunday with a second-place finish in the United States Grand Prix.

Number six gives the 34-year-old sole ownership of second place on the all-time list. The greatest driver of his generation has overtaken Juan Manuel Fangio, whose championships came in the 1950s, leaving him one behind Michael Schumacher. Few would bet against Hamilton equalling the German next year, given the Briton’s relentless desire for self-improvement.

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Mercedes F1 team sack four over racist bullying of Muslim colleague

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• Quartet dismissed from Brackley HQ and three disciplined

• ‘We condemn this behaviour in the strongest terms’

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team have sacked four of their staff members and disciplined three more for racist bullying. The team launched an inquiry into racism at their Northamptonshire headquarters in July and concluded that the four men had breached their equality policy. They were dismissed on 2 August and their final appeal was held last week.

The Sun newspaper reported on Saturday that the abuse at the Brackley site included a member of staff allegedly being referred to as a “Muslim terrorist fuck”. During Ramadan the sacked workers, believed to be from the IT department, were reported as putting up a poll on which they signed and dated guesses of when their co-worker would break his fast.

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Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel wins Formula One’s Brazilian Grand Prix

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From the Florida Times-Union:Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown could face years in prison and still get off easier than a common criminal when she is sentenced for 18 felony convictions.The reasons to watch for both of those possibilities were folded in... The Lightning has rolled through the typically-tough West Coast trip, beating the Sharks and Kings by a combined score of 10-3.Those are two stingy defensive teams, and Tampa Bay dominated them."