The Moral Heart

Hamilton wins his 7th title

Today, February 8th 2021, the news broke that Sir Lewis Hamilton has signed a one year deal to continue racing in Formula One with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. This follows on from the 2020 season, where Hamilton equaled the great Michael Schumacher's 7x world championship titles and became the most successful F1 driver ever, with the most race wins of any driver attributed to his name.

The 2020 season took place amidst a global pandemic, and because of this, Formula One ran the slogan: We Race As One, designed to take a performative stance of solidarity with the masses struggling through the multiple national lockdowns. 

A massive wave of anti-racist sentiment also gripped the world in 2020, following the brutal killing of George Floyd, and Black Lives Matter protests were seen across the world.

The We Race As One slogan was quickly co-opted to stand as a message of equality with not just the BLM movement, but as a blanket statement calling for equality in all things, across all disciplines. As such, the END RACISM campaign was added to the sport, which saw some drivers take a knee and all observe a minute's silence, whilst wearing END RACSIM t-shirts over their racing suits.

We Race As One

As the 2020 season ended, the We Race As One slogan was revealed for the performative act it was, with many of the drivers shown to hold little or no regard for international lockdown rules, and many even contracting the virus as a result. As well as this, Nikita Mazepin - who very publicly showed a video of himself sexually harassing a female 'friend' - has been allowed to retain his seat in the Haas F1 Team for the 2021 season. 

But what has any of this got to do with Sir Lewis Hamilton?

Hamilton is inarguably the beating moral heart of Formula One. There has never ben another driver like him, because his world is more than just the F1 paddock. 

The sport has almost no history of political stances. The most famous act of rebellion for the sport was the memorable 1982 'sleepover,' an act of childish foot stomping against the FISA ruling that driver could only be licensed after they had signed a deal - thus limiting their opportunities for better rides. As funny as the story is, it has no bearing on the world outside of car racing.

Hamilton not only brought political statements into F1, he made them in a way that it was impossible to ignore.

The legendary Mercedes cars of F1 were always silver. The 'silver arrows' are iconic, as much a given in the sport as it is that a Ferrari will always be red. 90 years of history were behind the colour scheme of the Mercedes cars.

The Black Arrows

Hamilton advocated for change, for a statement that would ensure people were forced to take notice, and to credit the German factory, they listened. The W11 that carried Hamilton to his 7th title and the team to their 7th Constructor's title, was given a black livery, a show-stopping statement of intent that let the whole world know that the anti-racist movement would be heard even at the very top of the most famous motorsport industry. The team uniforms also got a makeover, from the racing suits of the drivers, to the team shirts and jackets of the pit crew. 

To hammer home, just how monumental this statement is, I have to remind you reader, that the Mercedes brand has (in the past) been used as propaganda for Adolf Hitler's doctrine of genetic purity.

Potentially, the 'black arrows' could have been statement enough. After all, Hamilton was staring down the possibility of equaling (and surpassing) one of the greatest legends his sport has ever known. He could have left it alone.

Yet he didn't. He convinced his fellow drivers (13 out of 19) to also commit themselves to making a statement, to take a knee before the Austrian race and then to continue the action before every subsequent race of the season. He consistently wore shirts with slogans such as 'Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor,' and 'Love is Love.' Even when the FIA banned these shirts from press conferences, he continued to ensure that they were worn around the grid, and in his on-board radio after winning his 7th title, he dedicated it to "all the kids out there, who dream the impossible."

Time and again Hamilton has put himself in the way of brutal speculation, nasty character assassinations and the blood lust of the press pack, just to ensure that his message of equality is heard.

The man even included his 'agenda' in his contract negotiations, which was a long time in coming and inviting much scornful speculation that he was lobbying for a higher pay, or a 'teammate veto' clause, from gossip mongering fans, pundits and journalists alike. When in fact, he was lobbying for: 'a joint commitment to greater diversity in motorsport, by Lewis and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion, in all forms of motorsport.'

Sir Lewis Hamilton (because I will put respect on his name) is inarguably the greatest moral treasure to have ever been involved in the motor racing world stage. He is a British national treasure, and an all time great. Here's to the 2021 season, and (maybe) an unprecedented 8th World Driver's Title.

Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor