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Formula One drivers expressed unity within the struggle towards racism on Saturday however stated taking a knee before Sunday’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix could be a matter for every to determine.
Some, similar to Frenchman Romain Grosjean and Danish driver Kevin Magnussen who race for the U.S.-owned Haas workforce, confirmed they might be making the gesture whereas others have been extra reticent.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) stated in an earlier assertion all 20 drivers stood “united with their teams against racism and prejudice.”
“We spoke a bit in the drivers’ briefing and yup, interesting, but it’s good that we’re kind of all at least in discussion and I don’t know what we’ll see tomorrow,” commented Mercedes’ six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“I think, potentially, people paying their respects in their own ways,” added the game’s solely Black driver who has campaigned actively towards racial injustice and for higher range in Formula One.
Hamilton didn’t reveal his personal plans.
Sunday’s grid procedures might be totally different to common due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with drivers sustaining their distance from one another.
There shouldn’t be anticipated to be any podium prize-giving.
Grosjean stated that whereas some drivers weren’t eager to take the knee, all would put on T-shirts declaring ‘End Racism’.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who has been supportive of the Black Lives Matter motion, stated no person could be judged or criticised on their actions.
“There was a little bit of perhaps difficulty with some drivers and let’s say their nationality and what something like taking a knee would represent,” he defined.
“We’re not going to try and put anyone in jeopardy… we’ll do what we feel comfortable with.
“The intention is for us to support it and we’ll probably show that as a unit and then if a few of us choose to do something extra then that will be the case.”
Hamilton has “Black Lives Matter” on his helmet, as does Ferrari’s four-times champion Sebastian Vettel, and has pushed the controversy in Formula One.
“Our voices are powerful and if we bring them together collectively we can have a huge impact,” he advised reporters on Thursday.
The champion final month criticised those that had stayed silent on the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in May after a white U.S. police officer knelt on his neck.
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