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"Visibility and representation isn't everything, and it doesn't change things necessarily overnight, but it does begin conversations that I think are important," said Morris, one of few openly-gay professional racers. Morris noted that Mick Schumacher, son of seven times world champion Michael, had also worn a Pride T-shirt in Saudi Arabia on the media day. The German organised a go-kart race for women, who were not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia until 2018, ahead of the grand prix in Jeddah. The team's four times world champion Sebastian Vettel wore rainbow sneakers in Hungary and again in Saudi Arabia, where he donned a "Same Love" T-shirt on the starting grid as well as racing with a Pride flag helmet design.

The Aston Martin team partnered with Racing Pride last June, Pride Month, with rainbow halos on its cars. Formula One is visiting these territories which have different human rights records to what we have in Europe but continuing to champion its values as it does so.
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"I think this year there's been a big shift in Formula One that we're seeing across a number of drivers and teams where there is now a willingness to address these topics of inclusion," he told Reuters. Morris, whose Racing Pride movement was founded in 2019 to create visibility for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in motorsport and to challenge negative stereotypes, said Hamilton's actions were inspiring. Judges have convicted people for "immorality", having sexual relations outside of marriage, and homosexual sex. Saudi Arabia has no codified legal system and no laws regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Seven times world champion Hamilton, who first wore the Progress Pride helmet in Qatar last month in support of LGBTQ+ rights and is racing with it in Jeddah this weekend, told reporters on Thursday he felt "duty-bound" to speak out.īoth Gulf countries are hosting Formula One for the first time this year and the Mercedes driver said Saudi law relating to the LGBTQ+ community was "pretty terrifying". If we can remove some of the barriers to entry, there will be more grassroots involvement and hence more involvement at the top in due course.LONDON (Reuters) - The rainbow helmet worn by Lewis Hamilton in Saudi Arabia, and his stance on human rights, reflects a bigger shift in Formula One's willingness to address issues swerved in the past, according to Racing Pride co-founder Richard Morris. "We need to look beyond just the F1 and look at participation across touring cars, the karting circuit and beyond. My job will involve looking into this and working out how everyone, regardless of where they come from, can have a chance. Lee said: "We must accept that motorsports is an expensive sport and not everybody has had a chance to get into it. This term, he will be joined by China's Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo Racing) and Thai-British racer Alex Albon (Williams), Japanese Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th in the drivers' standings last season for Scuderia AlphaTauri. While F1 held races last year in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE and in Japan, China and Singapore pre-pandemic, the region has yet to develop a driver able to challenge for top honours. "If you want Asia to grow then there needs to be a office in the region where staff can work at and coordinate their efforts from."Īnother area he knows must improve is the representation of Asian drivers in motorsports.

He noted: "One of the two things we want to focus on over the next four years is communication and growth. Lee said the FIA, headquartered in Paris and with offices in Valleiry, France and Geneva, Switzerland, is exploring setting up another office in Singapore. He added: "Asia with 60 per cent of the world population and a growing economy is critical to the growth and development of global motorsport." In a press statement, Ben Sulayem said that "with the help of Lung, FIA will adopt an ambitious development strategy for Asia over the next four years".
