Five-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has called on society to “stand up” to racism and says “stricter” punishments must be handed out.
On Monday England’s black footballers Danny Rose and Raheem Sterling were subjected to racist chants by some Montenegro fans during the Euro 2020 qualifying match.
British driver Hamilton, 34, congratulated the Three Lions for their 5-1 victory in Montenegro and praised the players for “silencing the haters”.
Writing on Twitter, Hamilton said: “What you faced with the chants was despicable. Completely unacceptable, no room for this behaviour in any sport.”
Speaking at the pre-race press conference at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday Hamilton was asked by reporters about racism in sport and in society as a whole.
He said: “It is really there all around the world and racism is a real issue which is sad to see. It is great to see people standing by each other in support. People need to stand up for it more.
“I remember being at school and you got a slap on the hand for it and it is just allowed to slide. That shouldn’t happen anywhere.
“Action should be taken and we should be a lot stricter with it. It starts from parents passing it on to kids and it continues on.
“It is crazy to think that in this time in the world it is still very, very prominent. It doesn’t seem like it is going to be migrating much over the next years. It is great to see people standing by people in support, but it doesn’t look like something is going to particularly change for a long time.”
Reuters reports that with his millions of followers on social media Hamilton is happy to use his high profile to help engineer change in society.
“I definitely feel like I am in a privileged position and I do have a big audience,” he said.
“There are so many issues around the world today, and there are certain things I am able to put on social media that people can react to, create a conversation, an opinion and hopefully steering change.”
