One of the scourges of our current society.
Formula 1, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the Mercedes team condemned Monday in a joint statement "the many racist abuses on social networks" to which the Briton Lewis Hamilton, winner of the Grand Prix de Great Britain Sunday.
Read also: The tops / flops of the British GP: the mad race of Hamilton, Red Bull loses big
The seven-time world champion of the German team was involved in a collision in the first round with the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), which caused the latter to retire and the race to be interrupted.
“During and after yesterday's British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was the victim of numerous racist abuses on social networks following a collision during a race,” the statement said.
“Formula 1, the FIA and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms,” he adds.
Read also: Hamilton sees "no reason to apologize" for the accident with Verstappen
"These people have no place in our sport and we urge those responsible to be held to account for their actions," the text continues.
Racist insults against athletes are on the increase
Hamilton was fined ten seconds which did not prevent him from winning the British F1 Grand Prix for the eighth time in his career and returning to the drivers' world championship standings at eight points from Verstappen, the leader.
The Dutchman criticized Sunday "disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior" on the part of his rival who celebrated his victory at Silverstone in style while Verstappen was still under observation in hospital following his violent crash.
To read also: GP of Great Britain: the great anger of Verstappen towards Hamilton
“Formula 1, the FIA, drivers and teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable cases of online abuse must be highlighted and eliminated,” the joint statement concluded.
Public support of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, Hamilton created in 2019 a commission supposed to improve diversity in the world of Formula 1 and motorsport. The Mercedes driver himself gave his support a week ago to the players of the English football team Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, themselves victims of racist insults on social networks after their penalties missed in the final of Euro-2020. "We must work for a society that does not require black players to prove their worth or their place in society only by winning", posted the native of Stevenage on his Instagram account.