Lewis Hamilton Criticizes New Vietnamese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton, the newly-crowned five-time Formula One World Champion, is catching flak on social media for comments he made regarding the upcoming Vietnamese Grand Prix, which was recently announced as a new entry to the F1 calendar.
Speaking to the BBC, Hamilton said he would prefer F1 to have more stops in countries with a genuine racing tradition rather than expand to new markets. “On the racing side, I don’t know how important it is to go to new countries as such. If you had the Silverstone Grand Prix and a London Grand Prix, it would be pretty cool.”
“We’ve got a lot of real racing history in England, Germany, Italy and now the States it is starting to grow,” he said. “We had a Grand Prix in Turkey and hardly anyone came. Cool track, cool weekend but poor audience.”
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He also added that he felt conflicted when racing in India, which appeared briefly on the F1 calendar from 2011 to 2013 before it was abandoned for lack of attendance. “I’ve been to Vietnam before and it is beautiful. I’ve been to India before to a race which was strange because India was such a poor place yet we have this massive, beautiful Grand Prix track made in the middle of nowhere. I felt very conflicted when I went to that Grand Prix.”
His remarks angered Indian fans who reminded him of F1’s popularity in India and of its growing economy. Hamilton then clarified what he meant on Instagram, stating that while India does have a fast-growing economy, it still has a lot of poverty.
“[It] felt strange to drive past homeless people and then arrive in a huge arena where money was not an issue,” he wrote. “They spent hundreds of millions on that track that is now never used. That money could have been spent on schools or homes for those in need. When we did have the race, nobody came because it was too expensive most likely or no interest.”
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The British champion does have a point. Over the years, F1 has steadily expanded beyond its traditional heartlands, including in India, South Korea, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Russia, Azerbaijan, China, and Singapore. The first three are no longer on the calendar, while those set in the human-rights-violating nations have primarily remained there thanks to the money their oligarchs provide in exchange for F1’s prestige. Only the Chinese and Singapore Grand Prix has truly thrived.
Meanwhile, the sport has erred away from its historic European races in England, Germany, and Italy, while France has only just now returned to the calendar after disappearing for 10 years.
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