Lewis Hamilton says he is sad to see Sebastian Vettel retiring from F1, and paid tribute to the German's advocacy for environmental and social issues. In recent years, Vettel has sought to use his profile as a four-time World Champion to raise awareness of a variety of off-track issues, including LGBT rights, Canada's mining of tar sands, and Miami being under threat from rising sea levels. Hamilton has also been a vocal proponent of social justice, becoming a prominent supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, and calling for the arrest of the policemen involved in the 2020 Breonna Taylor shooting. With Vettel announcing last month that he would retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season, Hamilton hailed the stance of his one-time rival, who had challenged the Briton for the title in 2017 and 2018.
Hamilton: I'm sad to see Vettel leaving
"I'm sad to see Seb's leaving, but I'm really proud to have had a united front with him on certain things," Hamilton said in conversation with Viaplay . "Fighting on the track was great, but standing with him against certain beliefs and certain issues when we face different countries has been some of the proudest moments I've had in this sport. "We're all fighting something and I choose to be someone that's uniting people rather than dividing people. "I see so many people out there doing great things. I just want to be another out there that's hopefully trying to do something positive."
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