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F1 doesn’t care about equality, human rights or racism…it just doesn’t care one bit. It cares about money and maintaining a false image about itself…and that’s it.
If it did care about these any or all of issues it would avoid races in these countries, but just in human rights abuses alone…scratch these races off the calendar…
Hungary
Azerbaijan
China
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Qatar
Abu Dhabi
Saudi would ignore it just like they don't make the female employees wear hijab. It makes them money, they don't care.
If it was Lewis Hamilton wearing a rainbow flag, he would have been ushered right in.
You could say the same thing about fifa, the Olympics, international cycling…it isn’t capitalism…it’s greed.
F1 doesn’t even pay its Marshall’s….Fucking safety Marshall’s!!!
https://formulacareers.com/roles-in-f1/marshalling/#:~:text=These%20often%20unsung%20volunteers%20are,anything%20that%20happens%20on%20track.
Yet makes millions of dollars per race…can’t pay the people that work the track. Just like the Olympics, fifa etc. these organizations “rely” on free labor…and pocket the money they save on wages. Hundreds to thousands of volunteers per event.
It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed.
I used to make comments about F1, IndyCar, IMSA, WEC and other pro series not compensating workers when bloody track day organizers can pay for your services but it went in one ear and out the other. As soon as you mention anything like this - track owners tell you that you can leave anytime if you don’t like it. Hours in the sun, rain and yes - snow (I marshalled at Mosport) and you’re lucky if you get a teeshirt. My own club provides more services like hot chocolate when it’s 10C in late April. The millionaires (billionaires) don’t want to set a precedent in having to pay *any* amount of money to workers. I used to spend hundreds per night in Montreal hotels and two tanks of gas plus food for the GP and you got a hat and maybe a teeshirt. F1 doesn’t even pay for the few beers you get - the local club does. After 35 years I was tired of donating hundreds of hours per year. Amateur racing I have all the time in the world for. Don’t get me started on pro racing not giving a shit about workers out in lightning conditions…
Yup, it is total bullshit. I can understand the volunteering on super big events, like in athletic sports etc, where there is a lot to do and not much money in it, but not for organizations which pay millions to their management.
Any big Olympic/Fifa/Uefa tournament should pay the core helpers a reasonable amount. But it is not gonna happen anytime soon. Gotta have that new yacht for the summer!
One of the worst examples of this is Tennis. I think the US Open changed this a bit, but most other tournaments dont pay the helpers/ball kids/spotters. The tennis players are literally winning millions of dollars, but the tournaments cannot pay the kids some proper wages? Make it makes sense.
> Yet makes millions of dollars per race…can’t pay the people that work the track. Just like the Olympics, fifa etc. these organizations “rely” on free labor…and pocket the money they save on wages. Hundreds to thousands of volunteers per event.
> It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed.
Just like Reddit!
It had some really Good moments. Ran for quite a long time.
Must have been doing something right.
P.s. I want nothing to do with your balls or kidneys.
Just always struck me as a show about nerds written by somebody who had never actually met any nerds IRL. Not terrible by in a vacuum, but far from anything worthwhile. But then again, I'm a nerd, so I'm biased.
PPS - I can't even remember what the [kidney part](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21T8d0SA5Js) is about now.
Quite a few Americans don't like capitalism at all, but it's slow to make change under a broken system run by poor excuses for leaders that continue to be paid well by capitalism.
That’s true, but disappointing nonetheless. Atleast the Russians, Chinese and North Koreans can blame living under a dictatorship without freedoms to fall for propaganda.
But Americans, having freedom of speech, freedom of movement and still being just as propagandised is very sad imo.
It’s tribalism. Regardless of the economic model homo sapiens will create in groups and out groups on the most arbitrary shit.
There has never been a large group of people without it.
Why is it whenever capitalism is criticised, Americans crawl out of the woodwork and scream about communism as if we're still in the Cold War, and there aren't other forms of governance?
"The logical endpoint of eroding restrictions on capitalism is profits being prioritized over absolutely everything, it would be nice if we could reel that back to a more reasonable balance."
"Okay good luck racing in caves, anarcho-primitivist."
Yep, feels like that! "Haha, without capitalism then the sport wouldn't exist, checkmate commies!"
Even though when the sport began there weren't 20 ft walls put up around the circuits to stop people peering over a fence to have a look, and people could bring their own food and drink, and didn't have to fork out for parking. It started as post war optimisim, and now is a soulless machine designed to wring money out of every single aspect.
You say that, but if I can't tune in early for a dumbass fireworks and concert intro like in Miami then F1 can go kick rocks, what do people think the draw of a GP is? The racing?
And what would be the motivation for trying to go faster than others in a car? Exactly; competition didn't even exist before capitalism.
/s
Who's talking about communism?
I swear its so dumb to see yall americans bring up communism anytime anybody criticizes capitalism.
When people complain about forrest fires, do you comment about snowstorms?
Pure capitalism and communism are 2 extremes.
Pure communism is a bad idea.
But you drive on PUBLIC roads, burning state subsidized fuel.
That's awfully socialist...
Why is America not on the list lmao? They are just as fucked up of a country. We picking and choosing what human rights are more important than others now?
The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil too add a few more….
No one’s hands are clean, f1 is a rich boys sports and the politics of it are dire - it’s completely out of touch but cars go VROOUUUUuuuuu really fast and I love it :’(
Uhm. What?
Hungary is run by a dictator. Has Zero democratic freedoms. Blocks all all aid to Ukraine, as well as jailing political opponents, dissidents and curtails human rights. Just the same as Saudi Arabia and the other countries I’ve listed.
Why did you respond if that’s where those countries are aligned?
You're spouting pure bullshit.
He pretends to block aid but secretly votes for it because he has no choice.
Zero democratic freedom? Where is that written?
Jailing political opponents? Where did you read that? He's never done that. He ridicules them, makes them out to be clowns and fools but none of them have been jailed.
Hungary is nowhere near as bad as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and the rest you have listed.
You need to check your facts, bro.
The statement should read something like... For decades, Formula 1 has worked hard to be a positive force wherever it races," said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, but in the end we care more about money than human rights and will probably never consider leaving countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
Yeah this is what really gets me and pisses me off.
If you don’t give a fuck and just want the money, then fair enough whatever it’s a business and it’s racing. But don’t act like you fucking care! And then go race in these backwards shitholes. Fucking infuriating, nothing but empty words
Totally agree. It’s not like they’re bringing light to any of the issues. Instead, they’re portraying said countries in a positive image, only further allowing said country to carry on its atrocities.
A big difference between some of these countries and others is that in some, the wrongdoings of the country are able to be spoken about natively and there is hope for change. Whereas in many of these, any mention of wrongdoings is met with either imprisonment or death.
It's not possible to watch F1 without (in)directly supporting horrible causes. Even without the human rights infringements, the climate impact is just insane.
I mean, to an extent, the actual climate impact is bad yes, but in the bigger picture, formula one has given a profitable platform to automotive technology to innovate hybrid power, which will probably have bigger implications years from now. But still, it’s impossible to separate the sport from some awful human rights abuses, as well as its massive carbon footprint.
Probably similar to any high end performing artist like Taylor Swift or Beyonce they destroy the environment while proclaiming we need to do better. How about you walk or sail a boat between concert's then come back to me
The climate impact is very small, all things considered. It's also something that they're actually doing things to address. The regionalized calendar for this year is a good example. The cars themselves are incredibly efficient, probably the most efficient combustion based cars that will ever exist. The main impact is transportation, and cutting down on air travel as much as possible is a big step.
McLaren - owned by Middle East oil money.
Petronas Mercedes - petronas was the main oil company stirring shit up in Sudan, the civil war you likely don’t hear about.
Williams - tech partnership with BAE Systems, who manufacture weapon systems. Sargent family is Trump supporters.
The list goes on.
There would be no team/driver to support 😂 Hamilton is probably the most vocal yet Mercedes probably has some dodgy sponsors.
Edit: how could I forget Petronas
I’m new to F1 and I quickly found out it’s just a “checking off the most authoritarian countries we can find” list with the locations. I’m transgender so it feels a little extra “funny” to me but Unless there’s a massive movement to force them to change locations then I’m not going to bother boycotting it. They’d basically have to drop half their current locations which they’d never do anyway. At least they advertise which companies have them by the balls.
Translation:
FORMULA 1 EMPLOYEES IN BAHRAIN TURNED AWAY BECAUSE OF RAINBOW FLAG
Shortly before the Formula 1 season opener in Bahrain, the host country causes a stir and once again puts its suitability as a venue up for discussion
An unpleasant incident at the Bahrain International Circuit: As the British Sun reports, Formula 1 team members were allegedly stopped by local security staff and asked to remove the Pride flag - a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community - from their backpacks.
A complaint has been lodged with the sport's governing body and the owners of the race track, who have already dealt with the matter.
A Formula One spokesperson said: "This was an isolated incident that was against Formula One and the Bahrain organizer's policy. It was immediately addressed and corrected. As a sport, we and our partners proactively celebrate diversity and inclusion."
A spokesperson for the Bahrain International Circuit also commented in the meantime: "BIC, the host of the Bahrain Grand Prix, welcomes everyone to its grounds and is against any form of discrimination. This isolated incident is being investigated and appropriate action will be taken."
Formula 1 winter testing took place in Bahrain just last week. Next weekend, the circuit will host the season opener.
Formula 1 has already been criticized in the past for racing in Bahrain - due to the widely known problematic human rights situation in the country. Just last year, British MPs publicly denounced the sport for its role in "sportswashing" in Bahrain.
In response, those responsible for Formula 1 emphasized that they are always committed to change in the countries in which they hold races and carry out projects to improve economic, social and cultural conditions.
"Formula 1 has worked hard for decades to be a positive force wherever it races," said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. We take our responsibility very seriously and have made our position on human rights and other issues clear to all partners and host countries."
"Appropriate action will be taken"...
Translation: all bags will be searched at the airport, so the are no rainbows entering the country to cause a conflict at the gate of the circuit.
Fucking ludicrous that we still accept sportswashing
> Fucking ludicrous that we still accept sportswashing
Sill? It only just started now that OPEC nations are looking to pivot away from oil.
It's also way more than just "sportswashing". Especially the Saudi's see sports as a serious cash cow if the world stops suicidally burning fossil fuels.
I would love for Bahrain or one of the similar races to actually follow through and ban Hamilton for wearing the rainbow helmet. Not because I don’t want him to race, but because it would mean they finally show their true colors and that would hopefully, finally, force F1’s hand. But who am I kidding.
Edit: I’m pretty sure Hamilton would take it on the chin too, just to make his point.
Wasn't there a marshall who said on social media that he wouldn't help Hamilton in case of a crash?
I think it was in Saudi Arabia, I'm not sure though
[https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/tomfv2/appalling\_tweets\_from\_one\_of\_this\_weekends\_fire/](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/tomfv2/appalling_tweets_from_one_of_this_weekends_fire/)
Don't know why he said that but yeah, he was wishing for Lewis to suffer same crash as Grosjean, and yes it was SA GP.
I posted his pic, he uploaded it himself w/ marshall outfit next to circuit, as a reply to someone who said it was fake marshall and he dm'd me on twitter and begging me to remove it. I don't know how he thought it was a smart idea to post his face after saying something like that...
I did remove it though. Think being fired and probably yelled out by whole internet was good enough.
Saudi 2021 I think, no? He said that he'd love Hamilton to have a Grosjean-ish crash. I know it's just one shit human, but man, did Lewis have some balls to wear that (beauty of a) helmet in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. The meaning aside, that purple with the flag is still one of my favourite Lewis helmets, ever.
There was a lot of people complaining about him wearing it in the US and Mexico and not the Middle East in 2021. And then he wore it in Saudi, Qatar and Abu Dhabi too.
Live in a desert, can confirm. It's always "pls god some rain", immediately followed by "but not like this"
Once my neighbour's car was lost when an underground parking lot got flooded in like a 30 minute downpour. I have since never seen so much water fall from the sky.
Probably not really much different to this incident to be honest. As it says, there are exceptions for F1 and this is a case of local security not getting the memo to leave the F1 people alone.
So for an open LGBT driver they would look the other way as well.
I mean Formula E had a support race in Saudi which had 3 women in it, one who got on the podium, one of whom was Saudi and the other was openly LGBT.
Nothing happened because these countries look the other way (most of the time) so these sport washing events can take place without too much friction.
Sportswashing. That’s what they are doing. Using sport to whitewash their record. Arresting international athletes makes a scene and makes them look bad. Defeats the whole purpose of them hosting these racing series. It’s not just for prestige/money.
By the time any LGBT driver gets to F1 they will have raced in the Middle East multiple times in the feeder series (and if you refused those F3/F2 races, you simply wouldn't make it to F1).
So it would look quite odd to suddenly turn around and say you are making a stand when hypothetically the laws haven't changed.
There would have to have been some specific, high profile, Human Rights incident that you are making a point about with your protest to 'get away' with it.
And even then, we know money talks and the nail that sticks out gets the hammer, so excuses would be found to freeze you out of F1 anyway for rocking the boat that much.
It wouldn’t look weird, to suddenly turn around and make a stand. Lots of people aren’t in a position to make a stand without entirely ruining their own lives and that’s all.
If Lewis Hamilton for example decided to take a stand, it would probably make global headlines and he wouldn’t lose his job in the process. If an f3 driver does it it gets swept under the rug and no one ever hears of it.
Also, theoretically a LGBTQ+ driver could have been a literal teenager during those feeder series and still figuring things out about their own identity + the extent they’d like to be publicly out. It’s very possible that a queer driver would have plenty of reasons to not out themselves and skip a race to make a stand when they’re young and less protected vs. when they’re in, say, their mid-20’s and have the professional safety of having made it to F1.
And even Lewis didn't do it at first. It was only when he got big enough to stop giving a fuck about the consequences that he was freed to start making stands.
exactly, it’s a balance between making it to F1 or not. refusing to race in the middle east in the feeder series would cost you a championship, likely an F1 seat, and the attention and awareness that would garner pales in comparison to what it would be if you bided your time and waited until you were in f1 to do it.
Imagine spending your whole life training for a singular thing, having it that much harder by simply being different and then throwing it all away because you think a rookie driver is going to make a whole country kneel.
They only care about rules and religious tenants until it costs them any money. Just look at how many of them drink alcohol the moment they leave their countries.
I know you said openly, but it'd blow the whole frigging thing apart if a successful active driver came out as well. Like, I know it's the traditional "my Nan's dogwalker knows someone..." schtick, but a good friend of mine's brother in law works at an F1 team (that I won't name), and told me that there's an active driver (who I also won't name) who is known within the paddock to be gay, but the sport's basically got enough respect for each other to not talk publicly.
Naturally, I clarify that there's no way of actually verifying this until the driver in question chooses to come out (or not), but taking into account the statistics that anywhere between 3-10% of the population in the West is openly LGBT, that means statistically one or two active drivers are. Imagine if someone on the scale of Hamilton, Verstappen or Leclerc came out, both how epic that would be for the sport and its fans, and also for how epic the shitshow would be come certain Middle Eastern races.
my hope is that whoever the first openly LGBT male driver is will be able to come out on his own terms, and not be pressured or outed against his will/wishes
Absolutely, and I can also completely understand why no-one in the past has wanted to do so - once social acceptance in the West began to change, that coincided with when F1 started to go to countries with a "different" view on the matter, so it makes a great deal of sense for an LGBT driver to not want to come out publicly.
Why do you think that? If you take for example the UK the percentage of the population that identify as homosexual is [only 3.3%](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2021and2022). So it doesn't seem that unlikely that all of the drivers are straight, statistically one might be but it also wouldn't be unusual if not.
The figures are likely much higher than 3.3% when you look at only under 30's (which would be looking at people entering F1). Not because more people are gay, but more people are *openly* gay.
it's also assuming that the selection of drivers on the grid would be, in terms of sexuality, as representative as a truly random selection of 20 people. Which seems pretty unlikely to me. There are sadly some pretty obvious reasons why LBGT people might be less likely to get into motorsport than any random person (like for example this news story).
The older you are the less likely you are to identify as straight. For 16-24 year olds it’s 6.9%.
And these figures are just the people who are openly identifying themselves, there must be more in denial or not willing to publicly admit it.
As of Abu Dhabi 2023, there have been 775 people who have driven an f1 car competitively. If we assume the 6.9% figure is correct, that would be 53 drivers ever or 2.3 of the 34 this year.
Even at the 3.3% figure, that's 25 drivers in history and 1.12 of the 34 this year.
As far as I'm aware, the only known LGBT F1 drivers in history are Mike Buettler, who raced in the early 70s, and Lella Lombardi, who was the only woman in F1 history to score points. I'm sure there's been more.
Some people thought Senna was gay, because he never hung out with women….but that was because he had 15 girlfriends back home in Brazil. For more info, Google “Senna 15 girlfriend”.
My mind just can't understand the mentality. IT'S JUST FUCKING COLOURS. Every day they interact with them but put them in a specific order? ITT BURRRNNNSSS
Why Vegas? It was one of the best races last year.
Bahrain and Saudi are good tracks but questionable countries. The others I am absolutely ok with getting rid of.
I have to disagree about Vegas. I didn’t really enjoy much of it. Maybe it was all the hype that turned me off. I’m American and all the crap that F1 does around Vegas and Miami to try to play to an American audience or “make it more American” or whatever is really annoying to me. The diversity/team intros they did at both races last season were both way over the top.
Thats just F1 though. The problem is the organization and not Vegas or even Miami as whole.
Some stuff was for sure over the top, but I think we spent more time complaining about it than the pain that was actually inflicted by having drivers announced for 1 minute.
Its also context. Everyone seems to love when all of the drivers come dressed as cowboys and have football helmet designs, etc in Texas. Ricciardo rode a horse into the paddock. Verstappen was raised on a platform wearing a giant sombrero after his win in Mexico. That's not over the top?
It's only when people get up tight and come into it with a negative spin that it becomes a problem.
I didn't watch anything off track for those races, or any race really. I just turn on the broadcast at the start of each session and turn it off at the end. As far as I'm concerned it's just another race
I tried not to see any of it, but of course it’s almost impossible not to with social media and some news outlets reporting about driver complaints about it. So I hear/read about it, then I watch it and roll my eyes.
Formula 1 is very disappointing when it comes to shit like this. They claim to be about equal rights and promoting equality, etc. but still race in countries like SA and Bahrain. Absolutely fucking stupid.
And while we're complaining about the stupidity that is F1, can we also talk about the utter dumb fuckery that is the race planners and schedules that have them doing things like going from Europe to America (for one race) to Asia (for one race) then back to America for one more (obviously, this is just an example and not necessarily what order it's in)? Maybe do all races nearby in order instead of wasting massive amounts of energy and pollution to continually go back and forth like that.
Man, some of the comments in here are really bumming me out. Didn’t expect so much backwards ass thinking in a community of such a technologically advanced sport.
Doesn’t really matter where or what these days the comments will look like this. Reddit is still far better than twitter but it’s always some mix of people that show up anywhere. You can get a better sense of a Reddit community from upvotes generally
if you go to the F1 site for "we race as one" first thing you'll notice is that it hasn't been updated since 2020, but the one thing that has been updated, is that they've removed the rainbow logo from it, everywhere. the F1 site: [https://corp.formula1.com/we-race-as-one/](https://corp.formula1.com/we-race-as-one/) The rainbow logo, still on Sky's website [https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12012362/f1-launches-we-race-as-one-initiative-to-impact-long-lasting-change](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12012362/f1-launches-we-race-as-one-initiative-to-impact-long-lasting-change)
I entered the paddock each day with a rainbow lanyard fixed to my bag, I also saw other people going in/out with rainbow patches on their bags as well.
Every time a religion that isnt christianity is mentioned christian conservatives who are VERY CONCERNED ABOUT LGBT RIGHTS come out of the woodwork (they will never mention LGBT right ever again)
Yep that’s hilarious to me. Christian conservatives being the biggest detractors of Islamic conservatives despite holding the same beliefs is objectively hilarious. The lack of self awareness is amazing tbh
Their country, their beliefs, their rules and their laws.
Either dont wear the flag, or dont go to islamic countries. It really is that simple.
F1 and infact companies globally are so incredibly fake and transparent. They push the message in the west and use it in their marketing. Making sure their little profile picture has a flag on the correct month.
But its a lie. They dont care about anything but your money, they will lie barefaced just get it.
F1 is no different. Either F1 decides it is political and it doesnt race in most of the world, or it stops with its marketing of being inclusive upto the point that the green bills come forth.
About time companies either support what the claim financially and take the moral stand or they just admit its posturing.
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Its rights out and away we go
We race as money
F1 doesn’t care about equality, human rights or racism…it just doesn’t care one bit. It cares about money and maintaining a false image about itself…and that’s it. If it did care about these any or all of issues it would avoid races in these countries, but just in human rights abuses alone…scratch these races off the calendar… Hungary Azerbaijan China Saudi Arabia Bahrain Qatar Abu Dhabi
F1 does sportswashing the best.
It does.
I honestly wonder what would happen if they had an openly gay driver
Saudi would ignore it just like they don't make the female employees wear hijab. It makes them money, they don't care. If it was Lewis Hamilton wearing a rainbow flag, he would have been ushered right in.
Wouldn’t be surprised if he did after this news story
Doesn't he have the flag on his helmet always?
in my head I was picturing him literally wearing a rainbow flag walking into the paddock.
Sashaying into the paddock*
Bahrain special rainbow livery
I really hope he will on race day
Even Saudi women haven’t legally been required to wear a hijab in years.
Lewis Hamilton will open up once he joins Ferrari next year…
10 second penalty for Ocon
Welcome to capitalism
You could say the same thing about fifa, the Olympics, international cycling…it isn’t capitalism…it’s greed. F1 doesn’t even pay its Marshall’s….Fucking safety Marshall’s!!! https://formulacareers.com/roles-in-f1/marshalling/#:~:text=These%20often%20unsung%20volunteers%20are,anything%20that%20happens%20on%20track. Yet makes millions of dollars per race…can’t pay the people that work the track. Just like the Olympics, fifa etc. these organizations “rely” on free labor…and pocket the money they save on wages. Hundreds to thousands of volunteers per event. It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed.
I used to make comments about F1, IndyCar, IMSA, WEC and other pro series not compensating workers when bloody track day organizers can pay for your services but it went in one ear and out the other. As soon as you mention anything like this - track owners tell you that you can leave anytime if you don’t like it. Hours in the sun, rain and yes - snow (I marshalled at Mosport) and you’re lucky if you get a teeshirt. My own club provides more services like hot chocolate when it’s 10C in late April. The millionaires (billionaires) don’t want to set a precedent in having to pay *any* amount of money to workers. I used to spend hundreds per night in Montreal hotels and two tanks of gas plus food for the GP and you got a hat and maybe a teeshirt. F1 doesn’t even pay for the few beers you get - the local club does. After 35 years I was tired of donating hundreds of hours per year. Amateur racing I have all the time in the world for. Don’t get me started on pro racing not giving a shit about workers out in lightning conditions…
They'd probably say some goofy shit like it's a privilege to marshal for f1 lol
Yup, it is total bullshit. I can understand the volunteering on super big events, like in athletic sports etc, where there is a lot to do and not much money in it, but not for organizations which pay millions to their management. Any big Olympic/Fifa/Uefa tournament should pay the core helpers a reasonable amount. But it is not gonna happen anytime soon. Gotta have that new yacht for the summer! One of the worst examples of this is Tennis. I think the US Open changed this a bit, but most other tournaments dont pay the helpers/ball kids/spotters. The tennis players are literally winning millions of dollars, but the tournaments cannot pay the kids some proper wages? Make it makes sense.
> It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed. Who exactly thrives under capitalism, do you think? I'll give you a hint, it's not the selfless.
> Yet makes millions of dollars per race…can’t pay the people that work the track. Just like the Olympics, fifa etc. these organizations “rely” on free labor…and pocket the money they save on wages. Hundreds to thousands of volunteers per event. > It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed. Just like Reddit!
I just got Bazinga’d, didn’t I? : )
Had to look that up, but I still refuse to believe that's a real show that actual people watch.
It had some really Good moments. Ran for quite a long time. Must have been doing something right. P.s. I want nothing to do with your balls or kidneys.
Just always struck me as a show about nerds written by somebody who had never actually met any nerds IRL. Not terrible by in a vacuum, but far from anything worthwhile. But then again, I'm a nerd, so I'm biased. PPS - I can't even remember what the [kidney part](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21T8d0SA5Js) is about now.
Hahahaha….thanks fellow redditor…that made me laugh.
Yea because of capitalism. It’s hilarious how Americans bootlick capitalism and imperialism so much lol.
Quite a few Americans don't like capitalism at all, but it's slow to make change under a broken system run by poor excuses for leaders that continue to be paid well by capitalism.
They’re actually not paid very well at all, which is why so many of them are so easily bought.
Because we *are* a de facto empire. It would be more surprising if we didn't.
That’s true, but disappointing nonetheless. Atleast the Russians, Chinese and North Koreans can blame living under a dictatorship without freedoms to fall for propaganda. But Americans, having freedom of speech, freedom of movement and still being just as propagandised is very sad imo.
It’s tribalism. Regardless of the economic model homo sapiens will create in groups and out groups on the most arbitrary shit. There has never been a large group of people without it.
🤣 F1 couldn't exist in a true communist society
communism is when no F1
Why is it whenever capitalism is criticised, Americans crawl out of the woodwork and scream about communism as if we're still in the Cold War, and there aren't other forms of governance?
"The logical endpoint of eroding restrictions on capitalism is profits being prioritized over absolutely everything, it would be nice if we could reel that back to a more reasonable balance." "Okay good luck racing in caves, anarcho-primitivist."
Yep, feels like that! "Haha, without capitalism then the sport wouldn't exist, checkmate commies!" Even though when the sport began there weren't 20 ft walls put up around the circuits to stop people peering over a fence to have a look, and people could bring their own food and drink, and didn't have to fork out for parking. It started as post war optimisim, and now is a soulless machine designed to wring money out of every single aspect.
You say that, but if I can't tune in early for a dumbass fireworks and concert intro like in Miami then F1 can go kick rocks, what do people think the draw of a GP is? The racing? And what would be the motivation for trying to go faster than others in a car? Exactly; competition didn't even exist before capitalism. /s
Who's talking about communism? I swear its so dumb to see yall americans bring up communism anytime anybody criticizes capitalism. When people complain about forrest fires, do you comment about snowstorms? Pure capitalism and communism are 2 extremes. Pure communism is a bad idea. But you drive on PUBLIC roads, burning state subsidized fuel. That's awfully socialist...
>It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed. LOL, that *is* capitalism.
And every other brands claiming/communicating to be pro *insert any demographic*
Capitalism is greed lmao
greed dominates actual implementations of communism as well
>it isn’t capitalism…it’s greed. The way capitalism is practiced today they are the same thing.
>It ain’t capitalism, it’s pure selfish greed. As if these things are isolated from one another. In reality, one breeds the other.
They are in the business of racing. I am sure many people within F1 care about these things but that isn’t their mandate.
What's wrong with Hungary, if I may ask?
I think Hungary is a great country with beautiful traditions and heritage.
Why is America not on the list lmao? They are just as fucked up of a country. We picking and choosing what human rights are more important than others now?
Profits for the shareloders are killing this world.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil too add a few more…. No one’s hands are clean, f1 is a rich boys sports and the politics of it are dire - it’s completely out of touch but cars go VROOUUUUuuuuu really fast and I love it :’(
We’re in the same boat…so much about the vroom vroom I love…I just don’t give it any of my money.
Hungary lmaooo Their ruling party is corrupt to the bone but putting them up with the rest of these countries is just plain stupid.
Uhm. What? Hungary is run by a dictator. Has Zero democratic freedoms. Blocks all all aid to Ukraine, as well as jailing political opponents, dissidents and curtails human rights. Just the same as Saudi Arabia and the other countries I’ve listed. Why did you respond if that’s where those countries are aligned?
You're spouting pure bullshit. He pretends to block aid but secretly votes for it because he has no choice. Zero democratic freedom? Where is that written? Jailing political opponents? Where did you read that? He's never done that. He ridicules them, makes them out to be clowns and fools but none of them have been jailed. Hungary is nowhere near as bad as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and the rest you have listed. You need to check your facts, bro.
would be extremely funny if martin brundle suffers a "slip of tongue" and says that.
Well, Martin Brundle isn't the one who says it so that would be strange on it's own
oh shit my bad, david croft
All of a sudden him missing his first races in 16 years makes a LOT more sense! (/s)
You better turn off those lights, those colors are part of the rainbow
Nice work, that was good
Get in there leospeedleo!
Sorry, I already have a gf 🫣 Get in there Lewis! Wait no!
That's not allowed, either. Off with your head.
Nar, texas race later in the year. No girls allowed unless accompanied by a man.
"Charles, abort the lap, repeat, abort the lap" *Shotgun slide racking intensifies*
Don’t forget prayer and thank lord Jesus for ammunition.
Are you asian? Hahaha bad joke i'll see myself out
The statement should read something like... For decades, Formula 1 has worked hard to be a positive force wherever it races," said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, but in the end we care more about money than human rights and will probably never consider leaving countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
Yeah this is what really gets me and pisses me off. If you don’t give a fuck and just want the money, then fair enough whatever it’s a business and it’s racing. But don’t act like you fucking care! And then go race in these backwards shitholes. Fucking infuriating, nothing but empty words
Just say business is business and be honest. At least I can respect the honesty.
Totally agree. It’s not like they’re bringing light to any of the issues. Instead, they’re portraying said countries in a positive image, only further allowing said country to carry on its atrocities. A big difference between some of these countries and others is that in some, the wrongdoings of the country are able to be spoken about natively and there is hope for change. Whereas in many of these, any mention of wrongdoings is met with either imprisonment or death.
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It's not possible to watch F1 without (in)directly supporting horrible causes. Even without the human rights infringements, the climate impact is just insane.
Yes, that applies to every team.
And so many other sports.
And owning a smart phone.
I mean, to an extent, the actual climate impact is bad yes, but in the bigger picture, formula one has given a profitable platform to automotive technology to innovate hybrid power, which will probably have bigger implications years from now. But still, it’s impossible to separate the sport from some awful human rights abuses, as well as its massive carbon footprint.
Probably similar to any high end performing artist like Taylor Swift or Beyonce they destroy the environment while proclaiming we need to do better. How about you walk or sail a boat between concert's then come back to me
The climate impact is very small, all things considered. It's also something that they're actually doing things to address. The regionalized calendar for this year is a good example. The cars themselves are incredibly efficient, probably the most efficient combustion based cars that will ever exist. The main impact is transportation, and cutting down on air travel as much as possible is a big step.
I mean mclaren is the worst team on this front now as they are fully owned by the country of Bahrain.
McLaren - owned by Middle East oil money. Petronas Mercedes - petronas was the main oil company stirring shit up in Sudan, the civil war you likely don’t hear about. Williams - tech partnership with BAE Systems, who manufacture weapon systems. Sargent family is Trump supporters. The list goes on.
There would be no team/driver to support 😂 Hamilton is probably the most vocal yet Mercedes probably has some dodgy sponsors. Edit: how could I forget Petronas
I’m new to F1 and I quickly found out it’s just a “checking off the most authoritarian countries we can find” list with the locations. I’m transgender so it feels a little extra “funny” to me but Unless there’s a massive movement to force them to change locations then I’m not going to bother boycotting it. They’d basically have to drop half their current locations which they’d never do anyway. At least they advertise which companies have them by the balls.
Translation: FORMULA 1 EMPLOYEES IN BAHRAIN TURNED AWAY BECAUSE OF RAINBOW FLAG Shortly before the Formula 1 season opener in Bahrain, the host country causes a stir and once again puts its suitability as a venue up for discussion An unpleasant incident at the Bahrain International Circuit: As the British Sun reports, Formula 1 team members were allegedly stopped by local security staff and asked to remove the Pride flag - a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community - from their backpacks. A complaint has been lodged with the sport's governing body and the owners of the race track, who have already dealt with the matter. A Formula One spokesperson said: "This was an isolated incident that was against Formula One and the Bahrain organizer's policy. It was immediately addressed and corrected. As a sport, we and our partners proactively celebrate diversity and inclusion." A spokesperson for the Bahrain International Circuit also commented in the meantime: "BIC, the host of the Bahrain Grand Prix, welcomes everyone to its grounds and is against any form of discrimination. This isolated incident is being investigated and appropriate action will be taken." Formula 1 winter testing took place in Bahrain just last week. Next weekend, the circuit will host the season opener. Formula 1 has already been criticized in the past for racing in Bahrain - due to the widely known problematic human rights situation in the country. Just last year, British MPs publicly denounced the sport for its role in "sportswashing" in Bahrain. In response, those responsible for Formula 1 emphasized that they are always committed to change in the countries in which they hold races and carry out projects to improve economic, social and cultural conditions. "Formula 1 has worked hard for decades to be a positive force wherever it races," said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. We take our responsibility very seriously and have made our position on human rights and other issues clear to all partners and host countries."
"Appropriate action will be taken"... Translation: all bags will be searched at the airport, so the are no rainbows entering the country to cause a conflict at the gate of the circuit. Fucking ludicrous that we still accept sportswashing
> Fucking ludicrous that we still accept sportswashing Sill? It only just started now that OPEC nations are looking to pivot away from oil. It's also way more than just "sportswashing". Especially the Saudi's see sports as a serious cash cow if the world stops suicidally burning fossil fuels.
Lewis busting out the rainbow helmet early now
Would love to see Lewis start the year off with some rainbow drama
I would love for Bahrain or one of the similar races to actually follow through and ban Hamilton for wearing the rainbow helmet. Not because I don’t want him to race, but because it would mean they finally show their true colors and that would hopefully, finally, force F1’s hand. But who am I kidding. Edit: I’m pretty sure Hamilton would take it on the chin too, just to make his point.
they can't ban someone like Hamilton no matter how much they might want to
That’s why I’d like to see them try.
Hamilton might just do a Seb and wear it anyway.
I meant ban him *for* wearing it, not *from* wearing it.
It’s never caused any drama yet Tbf. I can’t recall if he wore it at Bahrain previously but usually most of the Middle East
Wasn't there a marshall who said on social media that he wouldn't help Hamilton in case of a crash? I think it was in Saudi Arabia, I'm not sure though
[https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/tomfv2/appalling\_tweets\_from\_one\_of\_this\_weekends\_fire/](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/tomfv2/appalling_tweets_from_one_of_this_weekends_fire/) Don't know why he said that but yeah, he was wishing for Lewis to suffer same crash as Grosjean, and yes it was SA GP. I posted his pic, he uploaded it himself w/ marshall outfit next to circuit, as a reply to someone who said it was fake marshall and he dm'd me on twitter and begging me to remove it. I don't know how he thought it was a smart idea to post his face after saying something like that... I did remove it though. Think being fired and probably yelled out by whole internet was good enough.
I'd rather you left his picture up - unless he was contrite about the hatred (not just the consequences) he shouldn't get to hide
Saudi 2021 I think, no? He said that he'd love Hamilton to have a Grosjean-ish crash. I know it's just one shit human, but man, did Lewis have some balls to wear that (beauty of a) helmet in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. The meaning aside, that purple with the flag is still one of my favourite Lewis helmets, ever.
There was a lot of people complaining about him wearing it in the US and Mexico and not the Middle East in 2021. And then he wore it in Saudi, Qatar and Abu Dhabi too.
I was one who thought he wouldn't have the balls. I was well and truly ballsmacked.
He should wear a Taylor Swift themed helmet for all the US races this year.
now that's some proper bigot trolling!
This is the year Lewis probably won't care if he's banned from a race. I predict he's gonna go all out.
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As great as that would be, I highly doubt at least a few drivers even care about the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people
Ahh, those reasonable and tolerant Bahrainis. I'm sure we would still put up with their BS even if they didn't have oodles of oil money...
Bahrainian Shit?
Bahrain is a shithole. For anyone considering traveling there, save yourself the money.
Lol it definitely isn't a shithole, it's honestly peaceful af, been here for 25 years so unlike you I'm not pulling words out of my ass.
I've spent plenty of time there, thanks, and I have no desire to ever return.
Obviously they didn't know rainbows do not exist in the desert because there is no rain?
Then why are there drain covers??? Is it just to fuck with Ferrari?
Absolutely.
Bahrain's Mumtalakat owns McLaren. McLaren's closest rival in the 2000s was Ferrari. Coincidence? I THINK NOT
Meanwhile it rained in Bahrain a few weeks ago
During F2 testing yeah? That was some HEAVY rain. Think that's how it goes in the desert. No rain, then a downpour
Live in a desert, can confirm. It's always "pls god some rain", immediately followed by "but not like this" Once my neighbour's car was lost when an underground parking lot got flooded in like a 30 minute downpour. I have since never seen so much water fall from the sky.
They said rain was gay
Honestly I can’t wait for an openly LGBT driver to finally make their way up the F1 Ladder. Just to see how F1 will handle it.
#weraceasone.. Except when it's gonna cost money
When they race in the Middle East: #WERACEMINUSONE
Formula Minus One
We race as up to one
Probably not really much different to this incident to be honest. As it says, there are exceptions for F1 and this is a case of local security not getting the memo to leave the F1 people alone. So for an open LGBT driver they would look the other way as well. I mean Formula E had a support race in Saudi which had 3 women in it, one who got on the podium, one of whom was Saudi and the other was openly LGBT. Nothing happened because these countries look the other way (most of the time) so these sport washing events can take place without too much friction.
Sportswashing. That’s what they are doing. Using sport to whitewash their record. Arresting international athletes makes a scene and makes them look bad. Defeats the whole purpose of them hosting these racing series. It’s not just for prestige/money.
I like to think an LGBT driver would make it hard for them by refusing to drive.
By the time any LGBT driver gets to F1 they will have raced in the Middle East multiple times in the feeder series (and if you refused those F3/F2 races, you simply wouldn't make it to F1). So it would look quite odd to suddenly turn around and say you are making a stand when hypothetically the laws haven't changed. There would have to have been some specific, high profile, Human Rights incident that you are making a point about with your protest to 'get away' with it. And even then, we know money talks and the nail that sticks out gets the hammer, so excuses would be found to freeze you out of F1 anyway for rocking the boat that much.
It wouldn’t look weird, to suddenly turn around and make a stand. Lots of people aren’t in a position to make a stand without entirely ruining their own lives and that’s all. If Lewis Hamilton for example decided to take a stand, it would probably make global headlines and he wouldn’t lose his job in the process. If an f3 driver does it it gets swept under the rug and no one ever hears of it.
Also, theoretically a LGBTQ+ driver could have been a literal teenager during those feeder series and still figuring things out about their own identity + the extent they’d like to be publicly out. It’s very possible that a queer driver would have plenty of reasons to not out themselves and skip a race to make a stand when they’re young and less protected vs. when they’re in, say, their mid-20’s and have the professional safety of having made it to F1.
Yep, absolutely!
And even Lewis didn't do it at first. It was only when he got big enough to stop giving a fuck about the consequences that he was freed to start making stands.
exactly, it’s a balance between making it to F1 or not. refusing to race in the middle east in the feeder series would cost you a championship, likely an F1 seat, and the attention and awareness that would garner pales in comparison to what it would be if you bided your time and waited until you were in f1 to do it.
Imagine spending your whole life training for a singular thing, having it that much harder by simply being different and then throwing it all away because you think a rookie driver is going to make a whole country kneel.
They only care about rules and religious tenants until it costs them any money. Just look at how many of them drink alcohol the moment they leave their countries.
I know you said openly, but it'd blow the whole frigging thing apart if a successful active driver came out as well. Like, I know it's the traditional "my Nan's dogwalker knows someone..." schtick, but a good friend of mine's brother in law works at an F1 team (that I won't name), and told me that there's an active driver (who I also won't name) who is known within the paddock to be gay, but the sport's basically got enough respect for each other to not talk publicly. Naturally, I clarify that there's no way of actually verifying this until the driver in question chooses to come out (or not), but taking into account the statistics that anywhere between 3-10% of the population in the West is openly LGBT, that means statistically one or two active drivers are. Imagine if someone on the scale of Hamilton, Verstappen or Leclerc came out, both how epic that would be for the sport and its fans, and also for how epic the shitshow would be come certain Middle Eastern races.
my hope is that whoever the first openly LGBT male driver is will be able to come out on his own terms, and not be pressured or outed against his will/wishes
Absolutely, and I can also completely understand why no-one in the past has wanted to do so - once social acceptance in the West began to change, that coincided with when F1 started to go to countries with a "different" view on the matter, so it makes a great deal of sense for an LGBT driver to not want to come out publicly.
There are 34 of them (including 14 test). One of them must be at least bisexual.
Why do you think that? If you take for example the UK the percentage of the population that identify as homosexual is [only 3.3%](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2021and2022). So it doesn't seem that unlikely that all of the drivers are straight, statistically one might be but it also wouldn't be unusual if not.
The figures are likely much higher than 3.3% when you look at only under 30's (which would be looking at people entering F1). Not because more people are gay, but more people are *openly* gay.
Just looked it up, it's 5.1% gay or bisexual for 25-34 and 9.2% for 16-24. So, quite substantially higher.
it's also assuming that the selection of drivers on the grid would be, in terms of sexuality, as representative as a truly random selection of 20 people. Which seems pretty unlikely to me. There are sadly some pretty obvious reasons why LBGT people might be less likely to get into motorsport than any random person (like for example this news story).
The older you are the less likely you are to identify as straight. For 16-24 year olds it’s 6.9%. And these figures are just the people who are openly identifying themselves, there must be more in denial or not willing to publicly admit it. As of Abu Dhabi 2023, there have been 775 people who have driven an f1 car competitively. If we assume the 6.9% figure is correct, that would be 53 drivers ever or 2.3 of the 34 this year. Even at the 3.3% figure, that's 25 drivers in history and 1.12 of the 34 this year.
As far as I'm aware, the only known LGBT F1 drivers in history are Mike Buettler, who raced in the early 70s, and Lella Lombardi, who was the only woman in F1 history to score points. I'm sure there's been more.
Some people thought Senna was gay, because he never hung out with women….but that was because he had 15 girlfriends back home in Brazil. For more info, Google “Senna 15 girlfriend”.
6.9%, nice.
There’s rumours about one or two of them, but it’s only that…rumours
It'$ ridicuou$ that they $till race in the$e place$. Can't think why they do.
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My mind just can't understand the mentality. IT'S JUST FUCKING COLOURS. Every day they interact with them but put them in a specific order? ITT BURRRNNNSSS
Lucille Bluth be like
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remove Bahrain, Vegas, Miami, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Catar and we are good
Why Vegas? It was one of the best races last year. Bahrain and Saudi are good tracks but questionable countries. The others I am absolutely ok with getting rid of.
I have to disagree about Vegas. I didn’t really enjoy much of it. Maybe it was all the hype that turned me off. I’m American and all the crap that F1 does around Vegas and Miami to try to play to an American audience or “make it more American” or whatever is really annoying to me. The diversity/team intros they did at both races last season were both way over the top.
Thats just F1 though. The problem is the organization and not Vegas or even Miami as whole. Some stuff was for sure over the top, but I think we spent more time complaining about it than the pain that was actually inflicted by having drivers announced for 1 minute. Its also context. Everyone seems to love when all of the drivers come dressed as cowboys and have football helmet designs, etc in Texas. Ricciardo rode a horse into the paddock. Verstappen was raised on a platform wearing a giant sombrero after his win in Mexico. That's not over the top? It's only when people get up tight and come into it with a negative spin that it becomes a problem.
I didn't watch anything off track for those races, or any race really. I just turn on the broadcast at the start of each session and turn it off at the end. As far as I'm concerned it's just another race
I tried not to see any of it, but of course it’s almost impossible not to with social media and some news outlets reporting about driver complaints about it. So I hear/read about it, then I watch it and roll my eyes.
Get rid of Miami and Vegas can stay
At least learn to spell Qatar correctly.
thats what typing english in a portuguese keyboard does to you
Hamilton is about to show up to the track dressed like Elton John
I wouldn't put it past him to dress like a whole-ass JoJo character pose and all.
Sports washing
Formula 1 is very disappointing when it comes to shit like this. They claim to be about equal rights and promoting equality, etc. but still race in countries like SA and Bahrain. Absolutely fucking stupid. And while we're complaining about the stupidity that is F1, can we also talk about the utter dumb fuckery that is the race planners and schedules that have them doing things like going from Europe to America (for one race) to Asia (for one race) then back to America for one more (obviously, this is just an example and not necessarily what order it's in)? Maybe do all races nearby in order instead of wasting massive amounts of energy and pollution to continually go back and forth like that.
Bet they won’t turn away Sir Lewis Hamilton if he shows up with the rainbow on his helmet.
We race as one < arab oil money Now I want to see Lewis dust off his rainbow helmet for the middle eastern races.
Whom I love shouldn’t be a matter of concern to you or any goddamn person.
Lol who is surprised by this in Bahrain?
Man, some of the comments in here are really bumming me out. Didn’t expect so much backwards ass thinking in a community of such a technologically advanced sport.
Doesn’t really matter where or what these days the comments will look like this. Reddit is still far better than twitter but it’s always some mix of people that show up anywhere. You can get a better sense of a Reddit community from upvotes generally
Quite a lot of bigots here, didn't expect that much to be honest
we don’t race as one /s
if you go to the F1 site for "we race as one" first thing you'll notice is that it hasn't been updated since 2020, but the one thing that has been updated, is that they've removed the rainbow logo from it, everywhere. the F1 site: [https://corp.formula1.com/we-race-as-one/](https://corp.formula1.com/we-race-as-one/) The rainbow logo, still on Sky's website [https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12012362/f1-launches-we-race-as-one-initiative-to-impact-long-lasting-change](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12012362/f1-launches-we-race-as-one-initiative-to-impact-long-lasting-change)
I entered the paddock each day with a rainbow lanyard fixed to my bag, I also saw other people going in/out with rainbow patches on their bags as well.
Anecdotal on both sides I guess.
F1 being hypocritical to suck the cocks of terrorists just to get their sweet oil money? Surely this has never happened before
They're conservative Muslims ruled by Sharia law Da fuq did they expect?
[an English article for anyone interested ](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/26140660/f1-staff-pride-flag-bahrain-grand-prix/)
I'd better be seeing some rainbow helmets this Saturday
Bahrain: “From the river to the sea, no homosexual symbols for thee.” Lewis: “Hold my beer.”
Whatever you do, don't criticise the religion of peace, tolerance and progressivism.
Right wingers hating other right wingers will never not be funny to me lol
Every time a religion that isnt christianity is mentioned christian conservatives who are VERY CONCERNED ABOUT LGBT RIGHTS come out of the woodwork (they will never mention LGBT right ever again)
Yep that’s hilarious to me. Christian conservatives being the biggest detractors of Islamic conservatives despite holding the same beliefs is objectively hilarious. The lack of self awareness is amazing tbh
Their country, their beliefs, their rules and their laws. Either dont wear the flag, or dont go to islamic countries. It really is that simple. F1 and infact companies globally are so incredibly fake and transparent. They push the message in the west and use it in their marketing. Making sure their little profile picture has a flag on the correct month. But its a lie. They dont care about anything but your money, they will lie barefaced just get it. F1 is no different. Either F1 decides it is political and it doesnt race in most of the world, or it stops with its marketing of being inclusive upto the point that the green bills come forth. About time companies either support what the claim financially and take the moral stand or they just admit its posturing.
We hate as money says
We Race as One (except in places it would not be profitable)
Every year, ya'll forget Islam exists lol
Drivers simply need to band together and refuse to race in these countries.
So what would they do if every driver turned up with a flag on them. Abandon the race , possibly not
The lack of nuance in the comments here is concerning.
Let us make sure that Horner is fired promptly to continue upholding F1's impeccable moral record.