Toto Wolff acknowledges the fact that the old Formula 1 fans hate the direction the sport is going in but they still love the sport according to him.
Formula 1’s decision to replace the old school V8s with V6 and introduce hybrid technology sparked a lot of controversies back in 2013. Many fans in the community weren’t specifically happy with the decision.
After adopting the new 1.6 liters V6 engines alongside, the newly established energy recovery systems (ERS) technology, the sport took its first step toward becoming greener.
Since then, F1 has regularly made moves to make the sport more sustainable. F1 plans to have a net-zero carbon footprint by the start of the 2030 season.
Many cynical people doubted that quieter engines will mark the end of Formula 1. However, the following of F1 has increased over the last 10 years.
United for the social causes
It is not just the environment in which Formula 1 has become more proactive. F1 is also constantly fighting and supporting other social causes.
In 2020, drivers took a kneel for the fight against racism. In the most recent example, F1 has started a brand new campaign to fight discrimination and abuses within the community namely, ‘Drive it out’. F1 drivers are very vocal about such causes.
However, drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, standing out for such social topics have attracted critics, saying F1 should stay away from politics.
Toto Wolff has his own say on these critics and so-called old Formula 1 fans:
“I love that they hate it.”
“As long as we provide great entertainment, we won’t lose them because we are running hybrid engines or less noisy cars, or drivers are kneeling on the grid.”
F1 should definitely move with the times
Every sport is meant to entertain the fans, that is the main point. However, when all the cheers and laughs are silenced, all the tyre marks are washed and all the dirt has settled, we have a world that we live in, a world that we are accounted to! And in this world sports must play their part.
It is long said that politics and sports should not be mixed. But we know, politics is everywhere and in everything. F1 is no different either.
Sebastian Vettel wore colorful colors to support LGBTQ. Lewis Hamilton wore a Breonna Taylor T-shirt onto the podium. The whole grid took a kneel and held no-war banners. These are all political symbols for the better cause of helping the world.
F1 is a sport that races in multiple countries and it’s the duty of the community as a whole to help the world in every way possible. F1 can never be used to hide some country’s injustice or to recover its reputation. Every land F1 drivers set foot on should and definitely will help the world become a better place.
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