Hamilton unhappy with FIA boss’ ‘rapper’ comments

Lewis Hamilton has been unhappy with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem comparing F1 pilots swearing on team radio to “rappers,” claiming there was a “racial element” to Ben Sulayem’s comments.

The FIA president claimed the organization wants to clamp down on the use of profanities over team radio, including removing offensive language from Formula 1 streams.

“We have to differentiate between Formula One — motorsport — and rap music,” the FIA boss claimed.

“We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that. We are different.”

Lewis was asked what he thought about the FIA boss’s comments, and the British driver admitted that he understood the move to cut down on swearing for the benefit of younger audiences but didn’t like the comparison.

Hamilton revealed that comparison with rappers is very stereotypical, as you think most rappers are Afro-American, and it features a racial element. Earlier this year, Lewis claimed that Mohammed Ben Sulayem had never had his support to lead FIA.

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#F1 | FIA President, Ben Sulayem, recently made a few comments regarding drivers swearing on radios:

“We're not rappers. There is a difference between our sport, motorsport, and rap music.”

‼️ Lewis Hamilton comments on the remarks: “I don't like how he's expressed it, saying… pic.twitter.com/qzjgX9xWkM

— deni (@fiagirly) September 19, 2024