'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sebastian Vettel has been extremely active in shedding light on social issues this season. The four-time world champion even made an appearance on The Question Hour, a British political talk show, where he talked about some of the more important issues concerning the world.
During the press conference, Sebastian Vettel was asked about his activisim on the LGBTQIA+ front and why it was important for him to be vocal about it. The German replied:
“Why are they important to me? I think it’s just fair, it’s just the right thing. It naturally feels like the right thing to talk about, and to express my support for people who suffer from prejudice and just because maybe they fall in love with another man or with another woman, or because they are different, you know, coloured skin.”
The Aston Martin driver further said:
“So I don’t see why these things should matter. It should be accepted, just like a lot of other things are accepted. So yeah, it feels like a natural voice that comes out to talk or to speak up.”
Sebastian Vettel: Important to use F1's platform to spread the message
Sebastian Vettel also touched upon why he felt F1's platform needed to be used to spread the message. F1's stage has been used for multiple other things like building a brand, selling products, marketing, etc., then why not use it for something like this. He said:
“Well, I think it’s important to use…to realise that you have a responsibility or you have a platform to communicate, to reach people and you know, if you want to sell stuff then you have a platform and it probably allows you to make money but I don’t think ethically that’s a really important thing, that those are not important things.”
He added:
“But when it comes to human rights or equal treatment, I think those things are big when it comes to the climate crisis, which affect every one of us already today. And more so in the future, I think those things, you know, are more important than anything else and therefore they deserve to be mentioned and deserve to be addressed and trying to reach people and raise awareness.”
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are paving the way for other drivers to be more vocal about issues that are close to them.
