Lewis Hamilton has cast doubt over Formula One’s claims that the sport brings about positive change in some of the repressive regimes where it races. In the buildup to the opening race of the new season in Bahrain on Sunday the seven-time champion insisted F1 should do more to make a difference to improve conditions in states highly criticised for their human rights records such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week a group of 20 cross-party MPs in concert with the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) wrote to F1 and the governing body, the FIA, calling for an independent inquiry into the sport’s activities in countries with questionable human rights records and expressing concern over complicity in sportswashing.
