Leclerc won't kneel due to link with violence
Aug.6 - Charles Leclerc says he refuses to kneel before races due to the politicisation of racial issues, and the movement's links to violence.
The Ferrari driver is one of seven drivers - including Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen, Carlos Sainz, Daniil Kvyat, Antonio Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen - who remained standing at Silverstone last weekend.
Lewis Hamilton, who wears Black Lives Matter branding as he kneels rather than the 'End Racism' message on the t-shirts of the other drivers, has said he would like to convince drivers like Leclerc with "more conversations".
But Leclerc said: "I am against racism. I fight against it and I am glad that Formula 1 is using its platform to show the world the right position.
"But I don't want to kneel down, because many of the protests that take place around the world are often violent," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"And I do not accept violence in any form," said the 22-year-old.
"I also don't like that politicians are starting to use these protests for their own purposes."
However, Leclerc insisted that he has no problem with Hamilton himself.
"I don't think anyone should diminish Lewis' achievements," he said.
"In my opinion, he is one of the best drivers in Formula 1 history. He always gives 100 percent and is very strong psychologically. And in combination with Mercedes it is very difficult to fight with them at the moment."
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Good for Charles, someone finally mentioning the violence related issues regarding ' taking a knee.' There is also enough signage on the cars & around the racetracks to get the message across to end racism, so why does this taking a knee have to happen at every race now?
Leclerc is the futire of F1. Smart, fasr, well spoken and keeps racing and politics seapsrate.
Hamilton,on the other hand would destroy the very sport he dominates.
Merc has been smooth about supporting BLM and HAM to help cover up their recent slave driven production past. No one has pushed to remove the MB name from American football stadiums yet... Maybe when JLM gets funding?
PLEASE F1 Fansite, stop with the racial articles. I have been in and around racing for 55 yrs., mostly in the US, and I can honestly say that I have never heard one person make a racist comment.....never. Let's talk racing and leave the racial discussions to the social injustice sites.
Hi ROR, I very much like to, but Hamilton was the one who brought it in to our F1 world. I would like to let our readers deside. Thumbs up for more racial f1 news and thumbs down for no more racial f1 news.
Well, who is to blame? The journalists who ask these questions? The drivers who respond? The commenting fans?
BTW, we should all remember that justice does not require an adjective.
S.
By insisting for others to kneel he is not serving his cause , but if he donates say like 5 million dollars to the cause for educating all about the subject , then he is spot on ,it goes a long way .
The problem he is no Michael Schumacher who donated 10 millions for the tsunami victims . Stay strong Michael.
Good for Charles, Max, Kimi, Carlos and the others for staying professional, as opposed to the others, who bow/kneel in the face of the Marxist BLM organization. F1 is hard enough. We don't need this nonsense. BLM here in the States has been associated with violence, and Charles is precisely correct. This kneeling business is also an affront to host countries - the F1 circus are guests in these countries - professionalism should dictate gracious behavior (even in China, who runs slave labour camps for those who disagree with the ChiCom regime.
Good on Lec there was no racism in f1 until Hamilton brought it up. If it's that bad how did he get where he his with his multi million $ life style and tax exemption living in Monaco? Just another hypocrite. STFU&R
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