Hamilton wears F1 helmet with LGBTQIA+ flag after criticism of Qatar

After calling for investigations into allegations of human rights violations in Qatar, British pilot Lewis Hamilton appeared wearing a helmet in the colors of the LGBTQIA+ flag and the phrase “We Stand Together” at training this Friday (19 ).

It is yet another manifestation of confrontation with the Middle East country, which prohibits, for example, public displays of affection from the LGBTQIA+ community.

Qatar will host the next F1 GP, at 11 am on Sunday (21), and Hamilton will fight for the world title against the Finn Max Verstappen.

The country will also be the home of the 2022 World Cup. Since work on the event began, the organization and the Qatari government have been denounced for mistreatment and slave labor, which would have even led to the deaths of some workers.

“We are aware that there are problems in these places [Qatar e Arábia Saudita] where are we going. But of course [o Qatar] seems to be considered one of the worst in this part of the world,” Hamilton said in an interview.

“When sportspeople go to these places, they have a duty to bring these issues into focus. These places need scrutiny. Equal rights are a serious issue.”

According to sheet published this Friday (19), almost a year before the start of the World Cup, the local government and FIFA have been trying to show a change in the image of exploitation of workers.

Saudi Arabia, under the monarchy of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, lives with accusations of persecution of opponents of the regime. Among them, the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the government, murdered and dismembered inside the country’s embassy in Istanbul in 2018.

In the fight for his eighth F1 title, Hamilton is asking other sports personalities to also express themselves. “We need to give visibility to these situations. One person can make a difference, but the collective has a greater impact. I would like more athletes to talk about these issues”, says the Mercedes driver.

Just like FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the F1 boss, the Italian Stefano Domenicali, avoided polemics in an interview with the BBC. For him, the simple fact of the modality going to these countries will help in changes.

“Such a big change cannot happen overnight, it takes time”, says the Executive.

The start of the Qatar GP, the second-to-last one this season, will be this Sunday, at 11am. Dutchman Max Verstappen, from Red Bull, leads the championship with 332.5 points. Hamilton, at 318.5, will try to catch up.

Also on Friday, the FIA ​​(International Automobile Federation) informed that the commissioners of the São Paulo GP, disputed last Sunday (14), decided not to grant Mercedes the right to review the incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

At the time, the Dutchman pushed his rival out of the track by defending himself from an overtaking on lap 48 and both left the circuit. Despite the fact that F1 itself released a video in which it is possible to see the Red Bull driver braking late and moving the steering wheel a little, not going around the curve correctly, the entity understood that the evidence is not strong to justify the right to review.