-
Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor
Lewis Hamilton believes Formula One faces a “really pivotal moment” after the first round of the 2024 season was marred by off-track controversy.
The season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix was overshadowed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner facing allegations of misconduct from a female employee.
The claims against Horner were dismissed by the team’s parent company following an independent investigation, but files purportedly related to the investigation were later leaked to the media.
Hamilton, a seven-time F1 world champion, made clear that he did not know details about the case, but said the off-track events were not a good look for the sport.
“As someone who loves the sport it’s definitely disappointing to see what’s going on right now and it definitely doesn’t look good to the outside world, from the outside looking in,” he said.
“I think it’s a really, really important time for the sport to show and stick to its values, hold ourselves accountable for our actions.
“It’s a really, really pivotal moment for the sport in terms of what we project to the world and how it’s handled. It’s not been handled very well up until this point.
“I think transparency is really key and I’m really, really hoping to see some progress moving forwards. But I hope it’s not a year that it continues to go on with this. It highlights some of the issues we also have in the sport, when we are talk about diversity and inclusion that includes gender, for example, and making people feel comfortable in this environment is key, and that’s clearly not the case.”
When Hamilton was asked if such controversies were common in F1 but rarely had the spotlight shone on them, he added: “Kind of. I don’t really know what to say.
“This is not the part of the sport that I love, but it is … you find these things, I guess, in business.
“It’s definitely an interesting time, but I don’t really have anything else to add right now.”
Ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, news of a separate internal FIA ethics investigation also emerged.
According to reporting by the BBC, it was claimed that a whistleblower has accused FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem of interfering with the result of last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as well as posing allegations that Ben Sulayem attempted to derail the sign-off of the Las Vegas street circuit.
The FIA confirmed no details about the allegations or even that Ben Sulayem is the target, but it said that its compliance officer had received a report “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing bodies” and was assessing them to ensure due process was followed.
Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who is the head of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, was asked specifically about the accusations towards Ben Sulayem during a press conference on Wednesday, saying: “We want to see all of the facts and just have total transparency, really.
“We’re all racing here, we all want a fair and level playing field for us to showcase what we can do. I can’t really comment further.”
Source: www.espn.com