Lewis Hamilton vows not to be ‘negative’ about future drivers when he retires from Formula One after criticism from Sir Jackie Stewart and Nelson Piquet… as the Mercedes star insists he will ‘always be watching’ after he calls it a day
- Lewis Hamilton has the joint most World Drivers’ Championship titles in history
- He has vowed to stay ‘positive’ about fellow drivers after he stops racing
- The 37-year-old accused former drivers of ‘trying to bring him down’
- Nelson Piquet was roundly criticised this year for calling Hamilton a racial slur
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has taken a swipe at former drivers, as he promised to stay ‘positive’ towards F1 competitors after he retires from the sport.
It comes after Nelson Piquet was condemned by the sport for referring to Hamilton as a variation of the n word, while Sir Jackie Stewart suggested he should retire from driving to pursue a fashion career.
The 37-year-old had not put a date on his retirement yet, although there are few records left for him to break in the sport.
Lewis Hamilton has vowed to remain ‘positive’ about F1 drivers after he retires from the sport
The 37-year-old has the joint most drivers’ world championship wins in history, with seven
He will be aiming for a record eighth drivers’ championship, and could top the list for most race entries after recording his 300th earlier this season.
In quotes carried by the Mirror, Hamilton said: ‘I’ll always be tapped into this sport, I’ll always be watching,’
‘I’ll always want to be someone that’s being positive to whichever drivers that are here, good or bad, because you know how difficult it is to start, and how it can suck and how days can be good and how people can be negative about you.
‘I don’t ever want to be one of those drivers that does that, because we’ve experienced that.
Nelson Piquet was condemned by the F1 community for calling Hamilton a racial slur
He made similar comments ahead of the British Grand Prix last month, where he told reporters: ‘In the last couple of weeks, I don’t think a day has gone by when someone who has not been relevant in our sport for decades has not been saying negative things and trying to bring me down.’
‘But I am still here and still standing strong. I’m focused on my work and pushing for diversity and inclusion in our sport. Crisis management. It’s not enough. Now it’s time for actual real action.’
He continued: ‘Formula 1, the media, we should not be giving these people a platform. I’ve always tried to be respectful to these individuals but why did we give these guys a platform? They are not with the time, they are not willing to change.
‘These micro-aggressions and racial undertones are just creating more divides. I love when Michelle Obama says ‘when they go low, we go high’ so I try to do that. I’m still here and it’s not going to deter me from doing what is right and doing what I love, which is working in this sport.’
Source: Read Full Article
The post Hamilton vows not to be 'negative' about drivers when he retires first appeared on europesportsnews.com.
