Lewis Hamilton has called some of the stories he has heard going into the controversial Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as “mind-blowing” and said he had received a letter from a young teenager on death row.
Ahead of the race in Jeddah, Hamilton was asked if he had reservations about taking part in an event in a country which, according to one human rights organisation, has seen 97 people executed over the past fortnight. And the British driver said: “It’s mind-blowing to hear the stories. I’ve heard there has been a letter sent to me from a 14-year-old who is on death row.
“When you are 14, you still don’t know what the hell you are doing in life.” And Hamilton, 37, has promised to carry on trying to make a difference to society wherever he goes to race. He went on: “We don’t decide where we go but I think we are duty-bound to try and do what we can while we are here.
“It’s not necessarily our responsibility but we try and do what we can. It’s important we try to educate ourselves and with the little bit of difference we can make, make sure we are doing something.
“Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of those who are in power to make the changes and we are not really seeing enough. So we need to see more. I’m always up for discussions and to find out why what should be happening is not happening. Look, it’s 2022 and it’s easy to make changes.”
On Friday, human rights’ group, Reprieve, said a further 16 people have been killed since the mass execution of 81 men on March 12. The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, claimed more than half of the 81 were killed for taking part in pro-democracy protests.
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“My position is still the same as last year”, said Hamilton, 37. “It is obviously mind-blowing to hear the stories. “I have heard there is a letter that has been sent to me from a 14-year-old who is on death row here. At 14, you don’t know what the hell you are doing in life.
“We don’t decide where we go to race in Formula One, but while it is not necessarily our responsibility, we are duty-bound to try and do what we can. “It is important we try to educate ourselves, and with a little bit of difference, we can try to make sure we are doing something.
“But ultimately, it is the responsibility of those who are in power to really make the changes and we are not really seeing enough. We need to see more.”
F1 has agreed a 15-year deal to race in Saudi Arabia, with the venue set to move from Jeddah to a purpose-built venue in Qiddiya, 25 miles outside of capital Riyadh, in the coming seasons. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told Sky Sports: “When we hear this kind of news [about the executions], it is quite alarming.
“But I’m a true believer in the fact that sport has to make sure that human rights is at the centre of our agenda, together with the country where we are going. If I take a step back, last year we saw a lot of women, and a lot of young people attending the race live. That is the right direction to take.
“The fact that we’re going to be in Saudi Arabia, provides the intensity of the spotlight around a subject that maybe without us would have a different place in the news.”
