Hamilton will not be penalized for missing the FIA gala
Lewis Hamilton met with the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben-Sulayem, to discuss how the sport could become more inclusive and promote diversity. The seven-time world champion also managed to avoid a penalty on the starting grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix after missing the FIA end-of-year gala.
He had disappeared from the radar after the Abu Dhabi events that crowned Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton took some time to regroup and didn’t show up at the annual FIA gala. The Briton thus failed to fulfill a duty imposed on him by the regulations of the International Federation for finishing second in the championship. Hamilton was under the threat of a grid penalty for the first race of the season, which he managed to avoid.
“A good encounter” with Mohammed Ben-Sulayem
On Thursday, Hamilton was able to meet and discuss with the new president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben-Sulayem. They notably talked about the ideas that the Mercedes driver has to make Formula 1 more inclusive and promote diversity. The International Federation has released a statement today summarizing the meeting between the two men.
FIA President Mohammed @Ben_Sulayem meets with Sir @LewisHamilton to discuss Diversity and Inclusion in motor sport pic.twitter.com/0OCi8whz8v
— FIA (@fia) March 18, 2022
Mohammed Ben-Sulayem notably recognized the work provided by the FIA in recent years with projects like FIA Girls on Track, and he praised Hamilton’s commitment to projects like Mission 44 or Ignite.
The statement also specifies that Lewis Hamilton made a donation of €50,000 that will be used to fund studies in motor sports for a student from a disadvantaged background. A nice gesture from the seven-time world champion, who is known to be very concerned about the lack of diversity in his sport.
