While Formula One drivers have already shied away from open politics, that era is well and truly over now.
While Formula One drivers have shied away from open politics, that era is well and truly over now.
That's the opinion of Alex Wurz, a former driver who is now president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA). "I think we have seen a decisive change," he told the Kurier newspaper.
The Austrian said it was only "four or five years ago" that no driver wanted to approach political and social issues such as human rights, racism and sustainability.
That has changed, Wurz said. "Sport is political now. It's not neutral," he commented. "It's impossible to be neutral."
The former Williams and Benetton driver said that drivers are no longer ashamed to "take responsibility and represent the values we all want to see." Wurz has been president of the GPDA since 2014 and says that in recent years the atmosphere of the representative body's regular meetings has also changed.
"Sometimes we just give them a forum to talk," he explained, admitting that he is often struck by how much today's drivers think about peripheral issues.
"That's the key, also for the sustainability of the sport," concluded Wurz, who also praised seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as a "fantastic driver" for such a change.