The Formula One season continued on Sunday with the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria. Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory of the season and drew attention for holding up a “Black Power” fist on the podium. He also kneeled while wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt prior to the race, but many fans didn’t see the gesture.
As several Twitter users wrote on Sunday, the camera feed switched away from the EndRacism campaign featuring all of the drivers. Instead of showing the competitors in End Racism shirts, the feed provided footage of a person skydiving. This decision to cut away from the drivers prompted a variety of responses. Some felt that F1 was not willing to support the fight against racism while others praised the move. These Twitter users said that they didn’t want to see a political message when they simply wanted to watch a sporting event.
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Mix of kneels and stands again before the anthem – but only a very brief glimpse of it on the world feed.
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) July 12, 2020
Hamilton wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt again. All others wearing shirts reading ‘End Racism’#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/uwVFvQM9eG
Poor show on @F1 cutting away from the end racism message displayed by drivers.
— James Wharton (@jameswharton) July 12, 2020
Sorry @F1 cutting away so we don’t see those drivers not taking the knee with @LewisHamilton is disgusting. Do you really mean #WeRaceAsOne #BlackLivesMatter #EndRacism ? Seems like a hollow gesture right now. Mixed messages 👎🏽 @SkySportsF1 at least highlighting that. 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/EckZfFYwW6
— Nathan Amzi (@theamzi) July 12, 2020
Very poor directing for @F1‘s world feed to cut away from the drivers taking a knee against racism to show some Red Bull skydivers instead #F1 #AustrianGP #StyrianGP
— James Matthews (@james16matthews) July 12, 2020
Bit awkward of #F1 to not show the End Racism images of the drivers on the grid while Simon Lazenby describes how important it is not to let the message die.
— Laura Leslie (@LauraLeslieF1) July 12, 2020
That’s really annoyed me. All the messages being issued from F1, endless displays of ‘END RACISM’, yet the TV feed doesn’t show the drivers doing something relevant. Grrrr.
— Thomas Maher (@thomasmaheronf1) July 12, 2020
F1 exemplify their solidarity with ending racism by showing a skydiver while everyone is kneeling. I’m really glad our sport has their stuff together.
— max | is proud of lando (@RattiaBinotto) July 12, 2020
they cut away to stop us from seeing those NOT taking the knee…
— RinceThis (@Rincethis) July 12, 2020
F1 is all about sponsors.
— Ewan Whyte (@EwanWhyte) July 12, 2020
Probably because one of Red Bull’s drivers refused to show solidarity with the fight against racism by refusing to take a knee.
— Rubber Bumpers (@TrumpFragile) July 12, 2020
Is it F1’s decision or is it Sky Sports? Genuine question.
— kelsey @ Petalbloom Island (@iKelseyL) July 12, 2020
Yeah, I noticed it too. Seemed pretty cowardly. They’ve decided an inherently positive message is “controversial.”
— schamspeare (@schamspeare) July 12, 2020
Somehow, it doesn’t surprise me. @F1
— stephen cole #VoteLabour (@stevethesmiths) July 12, 2020
Notice how the director cut away from it to show a random dude sky diving? Pffft.
— Jas Nepaul ↗️ (@JasNepaul) July 12, 2020
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