MP And Human Rights Campaigners Call For F1 Drivers To Use Their Platforms "For Change"

On Tuesday, human rights campaigners suggested that Formula One drivers could use their voices to steer the sport away from being perceived as a "moral vacuum" at the season-opening races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

This comes after the FIA's ruling in December which prohibits drivers from making any "personal, political, or religious" statements during a race weekend without prior approval.

At a news conference arranged by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) in London, Paul Scriven, a member of the British House of Lords, stated that Formula One has reached a turning point.

Scriven believes that drivers can help change the narrative surrounding the sport, which has come under fire for its associations with countries criticised for human rights abuses. Scriven explained:

"There are two roads that F1 can now take. One is a road which is a moral vacuum where the leaders and the administrators seem to going.

"There is another road that some drivers seem to be taking ... who understand they can use their platform and their sport not just for sport's sake but for good and for change and that they cannot ignore the human rights abuses in the country that they are driving in."

Many of the drivers on the grid, including seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he will continue speaking out, and other drivers have expressed similar sentiments.

The Bahrain Grand Prix will be held on Sunday followed by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 19. Human rights campaigners have called on F1 drivers to use the two season-opening races to speak out against rights abuses in these countries.

According to BIRD, human rights in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been increasingly violated since last year's grand prix, and F1 has been accused of facilitating "sportswashing" of abuses.

BIRD has called for an independent investigation to examine the role of races in human rights violations. The accusation of "sportswashing" is directed at countries that are thought to be using sport to improve their tarnished image abroad.