Albers compares Hamilton with DiCaprio: "Dangerous when you speak out"

Throughout the 2020 F1 season, in particular, Hamilton has been expressing his views on various social issues. Christijan Albers, a former Dutch F1 driver, has his doubts whether it is always wise to make those statements.

“I always find it dangerous when you, as a sportsman, speak out about certain things,” he says in De Telegraaf's Formula 1 podcast. “It is very difficult to make that happen. For example, if you start talking about the environment, you end up in the same corner as Leonardo DiCaprio who flies back and forth to America with a private jet for a Gala."

"Vulnerable to criticism"

Albers believes seven-time F1 World Champion Hamilton is on treacherous ground. "If like Hamilton, you stand up for human rights through the Black Lives Matter movement, but then are open to a race in Saudi Arabia because you don't know that country very well, you make yourself vulnerable to criticism.

“On the one hand, it's nice that he has a platform and uses it. On the other hand, is it sport and should sport be used for that? Everyone has their own opinion on this. If you express yourself like that as a sportsman, you will also get bitten. The whole world knows what is going on in Saudi Arabia. Then you cannot say: 'I think it is a beautiful country'," said Albers.