The Aston Martin driver was the most explicit about the Russian invasion of Ukraine during the Barcelona tests, immediately saying that he would not have participated in the Sochi race if it had been carried out by Formula 1.
Eventually, F1 and the FIA acted swiftly to cancel the Russian Grand Prix, also invalidating his contract on “force majeure”.
Sebastian Vettel, in his role as director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), suggested that the Formula 1 stars would discuss the affair and come up with other proposals.
The first action took place on the eve of the tests in Bahrain, when the GPDA organized a photo shoot on the starting grid to send the message “No war”.
All the pilots present wore special T-shirts with the wording “No war”, in which the o was represented by a sunflower with the colors of Ukraine. They also posed with a banner bearing the same message and a flag of Ukraine.
Afterwards, some pilots tweeted their messages of solidarity with Ukraine, including Lewis Hamilton, who was not present at the photo having arrived late in Bahrain.
“My heart is with the brave people of Ukraine, who stand with their values of freedom and peace,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram. “I am sure that I am not the only one to feel that our days have become heavier, sometimes banal, thinking about this crisis that is happening in the world”.
Although what happened yesterday was organized by the GPDA, it also had the full support of Formula 1, and the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, also expressed his support for the idea.
On Thursday morning, on the occasion of the first day of testing, Vettel took to the track using a revised livery, on which he replaced the colors of the German flag with those of Ukraine, and on the shell he imprinted the text of “Imagine” by John Lennon . On the side, on the other hand, there is the “No war” logo.
It is unclear whether Vettel will continue to use this helmet during the season or if he will only wear it in this week’s tests.
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