Hamilton makes statement during first free practice in Qatar

Lewis Hamilton is known for his involvement in social issues. Also in Qatar he's spoken out about human rights. He thinks Formula 1 should pay more attention to this subject, especially now the sport will be racing in no less than four countries in the Middle East. To reinforce his statements he appeared in Qatar wearing a special helmet.

The helmet consists of the colours of the rainbow flag, with the message 'We stand together' on the back. With this he wants to reinforce the message about equal rights. There was quite some controversy about the flag, because Qatar initially did not want to allow it at the World Cup in 2022.

The country reversed its decision, but human rights remain a sensitive issue. Especially LGBTQ rights leave much to be desired. Earlier in the season Sebastian Vettel made a similar statement, by appearing at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix in a t-shirt with rainbow colours after it was explicitly forbidden. He was reprimanded for that afterwards.