Lewis Hamilton has called the support of Formula 1 chief Stefano Domenicali "amazing" in his reaction to the FIA's political ban on drivers. In December 2022, F1's governing body introduced a ban on drivers displaying political, personal or religious statements unless they had received prior written approval. It has been criticised by multiple drivers, including the likes of World Champion Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and McLaren's Lando Norris - who says he would be prepared to defy the new rules. RacingNews365.com understands that the FIA is in the process of clarifying the guidelines as to what is and is not allowed from drivers, with this information expected to be released shortly. After the ban, F1 president Domenicali said that F1 would "never put a gag on anyone" about speaking out, as Hamilton confirmed he will still continue to speak out against discrimination and injustice.
"I'm still going to be speaking my mind and as we still have this platform, there's still a lot of things that we need to tackle," Hamilton explained to media including RacingNews365.com. "The support of Stefano has been amazing. I think all the drivers have been very much aligned on freedom of speech. "I wasn't really watching the news over the winter but I heard [about the ban]. "It doesn't really surprise me, but nothing will stop me from speaking on the things that I feel passionate about and issues that there are. "The sport does have a responsibility still to always speak out on things, to create awareness on important topics, especially as we're travelling to all these different places." Hamilton also added that he felt it would be "silly" to take any penalty points if he were to receive them for defying the ban.
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