F1 condemns racist abuse against Hamilton

Gulf Today Report

Racism reared its ugly head once again as Lewis Hamilton became the second victim within a fortnight on Monday.

England footballers Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were also abused after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy. Hamilton, an avid supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, had backed the trio a week ago.

Hamilton was subjected to online racist abuse following a crash with the championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull at the British Grand Prix.

Verstappen was sent out after he crashed with barriers in a bid to avoid an accident with Hamilton, who was attacking the Dutch from the beginning.

Hamilton went on to win the race and curtailed the deficit to eight points with the fourth victory of the season, while Verstappen was taken to the hospital for more tests.

However, it did not augur well with a few fans and they took to social media to target British driver, persecuting him with racist remarks.

However, Formula One, FIA, the sport’s governing body and Mercedes stood behind the Brit and issued a joint statement to condemn the racist abuse.

"Formula One, the FIA and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms," the statement said.

Hamilton managed to win the race despite 10 seconds were docked as a penalty due the accident. Silverstone Circuit is the favourite hunting ground for the Brit.

The win has heated up the Formula One title race once again as only eight points separates the top two contenders.