Lewis Hamilton wants 'irrelevant' F1 veterans silenced

Lewis Hamilton wants the media and Formula 1 to stop giving the "irrelevant" older generation a platform to spew their views on matters they do not understand. The Mercedes driver wants the sport to focus on bringing people together rather than causing a divide.

The seven-time world champion addressed Nelson Piquet's racial slur, Sir Jackie Stewart's call for him to retire, and Bernie Ecclestone's defence of Vladimir Putin. The 36-year-old remained defiant and vowed to continue doing what he loved - racing and making the sport more inclusive.

"It is not helpful, the comments we are seeing from some people. I don't think there's been a day gone by where people who are older - who haven't been relevant in our sport for decades - haven't being saying negative things and trying to bring me down," Hamilton told Sky Sports.

"But I'm still here, I'm still standing strong, I'm focused on my work and really trying to push for diversity and inclusion in our organisation."

The Briton has been at the receiving end of criticism throughout his career, but the Mercedes driver is keen to look at the bigger picture rather than get caught up in the negativity. Hamilton wants the older generation, who are not aware of F1's new direction to be "silenced."

"I've been on the receiving end of racism, criticism, negativity, archaic narratives and undertones of discrimination for a long, long time, and there's nothing really particularly new for me," Hamilton added. "It's more about the bigger picture."

"I don't know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform. They're speaking upon our sport and we're looking to go somewhere completely different. If we're looking to grow in the US, other countries, South Africa, we need to look to the future."

Hamilton and Mercedes are preparing for the British Grand Prix this weekend. The Silver Arrows have had a difficult start to the 2022 campaign, having failed to win a single race in their first nine outings. The 103-time race winner has won the last three editions at Silverstone, but will start as an outsider in 2022.

Red Bull Racing and Ferrari are again expecting to lead the way, with Mercedes hoping to close the gap further to the front two. The first practice (FP1) gets underway on Friday at 1 p.m. BST.