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Lewis Hamilton believes F1 needs to drive change, especially for women’s rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Speaking ahead of the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion expressed his opinions on women’s rights to drive and to monitor their implementation.
Expressing his views on women’s rights to drive in Saudi Arabia, Lewis Hamilton said:
“There are changes that need to be made and those changes for example Women’s right for driving in 2018.”
According to the Mercedes F1 team champion, merely raising awareness wasn’t enough as monitoring the implementation of the changes was important. Saudi Arabian law, prior to 2018, banned women from driving cars on the streets and entailed punishment for those violating it.
In September 2017, the Saudi Arabian government lifted a ban against women driving and their need to be accompanied by a male counterpart. The new driving laws for women also included equality in issuances of licenses. However, according to Lewis Hamilton, the ground reality might be far different.
Lewis Hamilton believes F1 needs to do more to drive cultural change in Saudi Arabia
Lewis Hamilton stated the example of the new law in Saudi Arabia which allows women to drive, however he questioned the ambiguity of the situation where women who had violated the anti-driving law prior to 2018, were still in jail and serving punishment.
Explaining his views on women’s rights to drive, Lewis Hamilton said:
“It is how they are policed, how they are really in effect, how women are still in jail for driving many many years ago. There is a lot of change that needs to happen. I think our sport needs to do more.”
The Briton, who has championed the diversity cause in the sport, believes F1 needs to do more than just raise awareness of the social causes in Saudi Arabia. Lewis Hamilton, who has been a strong supporter of cultural, gender and racial diversity, felt F1 needed to examine the implementation of cultural laws and enforce change in the region.
