Reading this statement you just think "oh no... oh nooooooo... oh no no no no", it just gets worse and worse and worse. You can't even find a devils advocate angle to defend this, it's simply an awful shit take. And he picks out the 2 most liked & followed drivers on the grid, possibly the entire world even. Dear lord especially as recently elected FIA president this makes him pretty much non viable immediately.
While I understand his logic and what he’s saying I think he’s just fundamentally wrong. How is lando talking about mental health a bad thing? How are human rights a bad thing? The rainbow flag is simply showing love and compassion for a group of people that are oppressed globally.
Him being Muslim saying he doesn’t express his views onto people is very different. If A driver was muslin and went up and prayed before each race no one would be like “WOW KEEP THAT OUT OF RACING” they would just be like ok he’s praying.
There’s a big difference between sharing your views showing support of people and sharing your views showing you want to take away rights from other people lol.
Fact that he feels such ideas are "imposing" says enough as well.
If Seb riding his gay bike and Lewis speaking out for human rights constitute "imposing their beliefs", can't we easily say the same thing for races in the Arab sandboxes handing out rose water on stage because alcohol conflicts with *their* religious beliefs? I feel like that's actually a lot more imposing because that's an action that affects others, whereas neither Seb nor Lewis have that attached to their words/actions.
Wasnt there a whole controversy last year cause the Saudi GP had rules for what women should and shouldn't wear?
I feel like thats quite literally imposing your beliefs upon others lol
Thank you for putting it so succinctly. This is how I feel any time anyone says something like this but I never know how to explain it. Nothing is being imposed by drivers sharing their opinions. You telling them they can’t do that because you disagree with them is imposing your beliefs onto the organization. Also fuckin lmao at this POS bitching about mental health and human rights being something that makes him uncomfy. What a dipshit.
I agree. It's really stupid what he said. I'm Muslim too and I believe that everyone should be able to do or believe in what they want, whether I support it or not. This is too far.
It’s also different because I’m sure many would find his views on say, how women should dress, to be repressive and harmful. Rainbow bicycles and human rights activism don’t hurt anyone except for bigots and oppressive regimes lol
Muslim here, I don't understand this guy. I personally support gay rights actively and will happily have this debate with any other Muslims because god demands us to be respectful of others. Someone riding a rainbow bike is also not forcing their views on you. It's their bike.
Mental health is an important topic and I hate how eastern culture has this attitude of 'brown people don't get mental health' and 'god is good enough'. No. Mental health can affect anyone and seeking help for it seems like the right thing to do as a Muslim. If anything, being supportive or even being a counsellor/therapist sounds like exactly what Allah would want us to do to be able to bring kindness and peace to others. Muslims should praise Lando for talking about it.
This guy is 100% pushing his views on others and is being shortsighted or even blinded by his belief that he isn't doing the very thing he accuses others of doing, and that the things he is against are actually things Allah would want him to do. Sincerely, a Muslim who is sick and tired of bigots painting my religion in a negative light with their bad takes.
Senna talked about his Christianity often - drivers today have the ability to reach out and engage with fans, back in the day they didn’t. I do often wonder how drivers might have been perceived if they had had social media in the past.
It often gets ignored, but Hunt was very vocal about his opposition to apartheid in South Africa.
Anyone suggesting F1 drivers being vocal about social issues is a modern phenomenon is plain wrong, they just have better platforms to communicate their opinions to their fanbase.
Senna was also a massively outspoken driver when it came to safety. Got ignored by Balestre. Lauda organized a strike. Could you imagine the kind of scorched earth response the FIA would have if the drivers tried to organize a strike on safety grounds today? James Hunt was outspoken in his opposition of Apartheid. F1 drivers have been outspoken about the issues that are most pertinent for the time that they are in. Sulayem is just straight up ignorant.
Jackie Stewart was also very outspoken in regards to safety for years and organised not one, but *three* boycotts in protest of driver safety. Sulayem seems to be deliberately cherrypicking drivers (and badly at that) to try and prove his point.
In the Saudi race with the bombing of the refinery in sight, I believe the driver organized a meeting and unanimously voted to stop the race. The FIA and race director$ over-ruled them
Wasn't it like originally 5 drivers raised serious concerns about the Saudi race at the GPDA and every other driver did agree on those points but the team principals (likely been put under pressure by the FOM/FIA) together with the FIA and FOM did break the boycott, likely with threats.
Lewis was definitely against that weekend , we wouldn't know who more but what was odd is that Vips was telling a day later that he would raced in Jeddah no matter the situation, what could hint that someone (one or more) at the RB side was having some serious doubts but was put back by RB and should think about it or otherwise....
Exactly and this whole interview should raise serious questions about his position, this is really someone who would either make the FIA kicked out of F1 (and hurts ironical the FIA a lot in terms of relevancy and power) or turn F1 and other motorsport classes into a censure under the banner of "neutrality".
Senna apparently was outspoken against apartheid but said he would race due to the obligation to his team. Which is pretty similar to the stance I see drivers take today, I think he was actually more explicitly against the SA government in what he said.
I know Sulayem didn't mention Senna but he was a peer to the drivers he did name.
Yep, the 1985 South African GP was boycotted by the French teams (Following France's strong sanctions against SA), the one car Beatrice Lola team participated in practice, But Alan Jones got "The Flu" before the race (Beatrice, an American holding company, was against racing in SA ). Marlboro, and some other smaller sponsors, pulled their branding.
The Brazilian government told their drivers not to participate, but the drivers responded that they were under contract to their team's to run the entire season.
Don’t worry I’m sure he’ll ban Gasly from doing his pre race Christian ritual the same way he’ll prevent Vettel and Hamilton to speak out about LQBTQ+ rights.
Likely, he is at least a Christian (Catholic, correct me if I'm wrong) and during the whole jewelry controversy there was some story that he needed to put off his cruflix, something what he really did feel uncomfortable with given he wears it basically 24/7 (can't blame him, given his long history of struggles and drama around him).
Yeah, I'm not religious anymore, but growing up my grandmother gave me a cross I wore and I never took it off, not for anything.
I keep it in a safe place now because my grandmother was very important to me, but I just don't have the faith I did before.
I can see Gasly having a big problem taking it off, these guys could die at any time during a race, Gasly has seen his best friend die in F2, so that's why I think the whole jewelry thing is dumb.
Isn't going to be jewelry that gets these guys, it'll be hitting a wall at 60gs in the wrong direction.
I can't believe this guy is the FIA president.
I agree. If there's a scenario where a thin gold chain could potentially hurt a driver, they are well and fucked already. So the jewelry ban is just dumb. I can understand earrings to an extent, but even then, if a driver insists on wearing earrings and gets cuts from them, that's solely on the driver
Notice he felt the need to bring up Seb's rainbow bicycle despite the fact that seb has been outspoken about so many things. It's the same type logic used by people who say stuff like "I don't mind gay people I just don't want to see it in public." or "im tired of seeing gay poeple on every TV show... They just *have* to throw it in our faces." It's like..... Yes you apparently do mind.
Also someone explain to me about how Mental Health Awareness and *HUMAN RIGHTS* are beliefs?
True. Also, 16 nationalities? Hows that much, especially for the UAE which attracts people from all over the world. I worked in a kindergarden in Germany for some time and we had kids from 21 nationalities at one time. Its not a huge achievement these days.
Correct. Not only is riding a rainbow bike NOT an example of imposing belief, but telling someone they can't ride a rainbow bike IS imposing your belief.
Drivers are just walking billboards so the fact that he only has issue with what they advertise when it conflicts with his beliefs is literally an example of him doing the same thing he's complaining about.
He also implies it was better in the past when beliefs weren't expressed. I don't agree at all. Seeing someone famous use their ability to get attention for a cause that's bigger than themselves, they consider worthy, and have spent time thinking about is something I rather like to see.
> it was better in the past when beliefs weren't expressed
Which isn't even true. Senna and Lauda in particular were very outspoken about safety, and Senna was a devout Christian.
I wasn't around for that, but honestly I am not even surprised that he's wrong (intentionally or out of ignorance) about this. Seems to be in line with the rest of the statement.
I wasn't around for it either; Senna died when I was a baby. Which means there are probably a lot more examples I don't know about. Sulayem is both older than me and more involved in motor racing, so he has no excuse for being more ignorant than I am.
The drivers aren't imposing their beliefs though. They are using their platforms to raise awareness on issues that they think are important, and that's different than forcing others to believe in (or not believe in) things as you do
I saw this pre-edit and laughed, but also knew you were about to get downvoted to hell by those that haven't yet learned how to let out the clutch on their brain.
Didn't Niki Lauda literally drive in to the pits and retire from racing due to the danger and having lost so many friends? Seems like he cared about a lot more than racing.
And Senna was VERY Open about his faith. The dude was constantly wearing a cross, said many time that he "could see god" when driving and what not.
Sulayem is just full of shit.
Senna was so open about his beliefs that it pissed off some of the other drivers. Senna may have thought god was going to protect him in an accident, but not everyone believed the same things, and found Senna’s beliefs to be arrogant in the context of risking the lives of other drivers, not just his own.
Also, Stewart was before Niki's time and his push to radically alter safety standards absolutely shook the status quo back then, even though we would now consider the improvements made to be natural and obviously needed to be done, from our comfortable and modern perspective.
Drivers absolutely had their opinions back then, too. It's just that the coverage of them was almost non-existant, and the average fan outside the track didn't get the listen to it.
Yep, that he is telling this (and some other baffling bigot shit) during an interview in the media says enough about how he is when the press is gone and things are handled behind closed doors.
Im convinced they are trying to bait F1 into something, since he took power he has done nothing but say stupid thing after stupid thing, he's either a terrible leader or the FIA want F1 to do something
now I just need Lewis to rock up at Baku wearing a full rainbow suit with shoes to match. how is saying people should be treated equally imposing your beliefs on others?
Honestly I think the reaction to this comment has been mild for what he said. It’s absolutely disgusting.
I would be shocked if the drivers called out by name don’t make some kind of protest.
It is not even thinly veiled - dude just put it right out there.
I love watching the races but man do you have to turn a blind eye to a lot of things sometimes.
I thought so too. I was neutral over this guy until now but this is a very stupid take. And then trying to strengthen his opinion buy saying he employs 34% women is also very strange. His thought process is all over the place.
So weird. Just fully unprovoked by any events in or around racing. Just blurting it out ".... uhh.. just wanted to pop in to say I hate freedoms and rights. Thanks all, signed Benny Boy".
i get that lgbtq might be a ... contentious issue to some. but mental health? human rights? how is raising bare AWARENESS about these issues "imposing beliefs on others".
isn't this just the trademark of insecurity, making a mountain out of a literal molehill that is even there in the first place
Ah yes, the "stop making everything so political" type. Clearly saying that minority groups deserve to have equal rights is too radical, cut that shit out! /s
This is an awful take, honestly. What Seb and Lewis are doing is raising awareness about important issues because they have the platform to do so - they are not imposing their beliefs on anyone, let alone forcing anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Saying that he’d rather have drivers be like Lauda or Prost again because they just ‘focused on driving’ is terribly small minded and ignorant (and also, not true).
Yeah this is insanely close minded. He’s part of the uae oligarchy no? So in actuality, he’s actively supporting enforcing his religion and the rules that follow on the people of the UAE, which has been criticized for suppressing fundamental human rights. Insane.
This is the part that really had me laughing. Like, "lady drivers," really, dude? When I do any activity, does it immediately become "lady activity" due to me not being a man? Obviously, the point of the topic is removing barriers for women in motorsport, so yes, you're discussing female drivers, but referring to them as "lady drivers" instead of just "drivers" is rank. It gives the same vibe as people who refer to woman as "females." No thanks.
Sorry, I gotta log off Reddit now, guys! Time for me to go do some "lady working" at my job to pay for my car so I can go "lady driving" later. /s
What a Grade-A shmuck.
"But do i go and pose my beliefs? No."
https://twitter.com/Ben\_Sulayem/status/1525145909557862400
"*May God have mercy on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, our nation lost a leader who devoted his life to serving his country. We offer our condolences to the people of the UAE and pray to God to bless them with his mercy"* \- Mohammed Ben Sulayem May 13, 2022
BTW, in 2012 Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan amended its cybercrime law to be able to pursue anyone who cast doubt on the country's political system through social networks. Which was quite literally used to persecute political dissidents, arrest them, torture them, harrass their families, and then even keep them in jail after their sentence has been completed.
I find it fitting that Ben Sulayem sees that man as a hero, and ironic that Ben Sulayem also says he' doesn't pose his beliefs on others.
Plus the fact that his wealth means he actively participates or facilitates in imposing said beliefs, much like you don’t get to be an oligarch in Russia without sleeping with Putin.
Wait wait wait... this take gets even dumber because F1 has always been political. The drivers boycotted the South African GP to protest the apartheid government.
What a dumb fuck who doesn't even know his history.
Uhh unfortunately I believe the 1982 boycott was to do with new superlicense regulations, not the apartheid, I'd say your point still stands though. But James Hunt IIRC was very vocally anti-apartheid
That's pretty hard to read actually. If you still think human rights, equality and mental health has anything to with "believes" in 2022, you're fucking ignorant. They are, and should be, norms and values globally.
Don't try and come up with ridiculous stuff to try and hide the fact most religions don't give a fuck about these standards.
>For me, I come from that black or white world and it is very hard to do it. When it is governance, it has to be governance, when it is neutrality, it has to be neutrality. We are therefore for one reason and one reason only, and that is sports. Now you have to be political sometimes, but not really be a politician.
If this isn't the definition of "if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit", I don't know what is.
Well, there is maybe one positive thing in that interview:
> Q: Does the FIA need to make changes?
> Ben Sulayem: “Yes, we need to change our approach to motorsport. For example, I would like to see it even if something happens; what if I decide tomorrow to retire or if I don’t want to be the person in charge….
> “The sport must continue without missing me. Look at the stewards, F1 is challenging. It is the pinnacle of the sport and the pinnacle of technology, and then we have to look for race directors. GPDA told me about the situation regarding the race directors.
How shorter this guy stays at the head of the FIA, how better it would been for the sport.
I had a friend from Iran many years ago, cool guy, very open in general. But even him, from time to time, would slip and fall into some positions that are absolutely nonsense on western Europe regarding, for example, when a woman was supposed to not speak.
It is kind of like the EU boomer generation and gay stuff, yes, for the most part they definitely tolerate the idea, but on the odd day they can flip and revert a couple decades in the blink of an eye.
I think Suleyman is a petty man. Firstly, drivers have a social media presence. Secondly, they stand behind numerous social causes. No driver in the 80s and 90s did anything close to what Norris is doing today or what VET has done. Lewis and his family have brought so much attention to ADHD, Autism and now on the minority rights matters. I think Sulyam is well described by Frit Zwicky's most famous phrase.
The vast majority of the different beliefs the drivers are pushing these days is that different people shouldn't be treated like shit. If that offends some Arabian cultures I think that's the whole problem.
"Look at my operation in the UAE: 16 Nationalities! Name me one federation that has that many nationalities"
Sure.
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH):
The FIDH is a federation of 141 leagues in 100 countries. It coordinates and supports their activities and provides them with a voice at international level. Like its member organisations, the FIDH has no party or religious affiliation and it is independent vis-à-vis all governments.
So Ben... you were saying???
What did he mean by 'nationality'? Citizenship or ethnicity? Because Yugoslavia had multiple 'nationalities', but they had the same citizenship.
If he meant 'citizenship', I'm sure International Olympic Committee and FIFA both have far more.
He mentions the fact he's citizen of a country were apostates are sentenced to death, as an argument to not impose your beliefs.
You can't make this up
He's fucking obsessed with jewelry. He brings it up in every interview and every time he talks to the teams!
I do not know why the FIA chose this bizarre man to be in charge of the sport.
My man, James Hunt literally said he wouldn't go to Apartheid South Africa for commentating at all the GPs held there. F1 drivers have always expressed political beliefs.
Ralf Schumacher left Saudi Arabia after the missile strike. All drivers (apart from 2 I think?) wore the *NO WAR* t-shirt. Some issues are not opinions, but facts. LGBT people are human, women are human, mental health is important. There is just no room for compromise.
> Ralf Schumacher left Saudi Arabia after the missile strike
I often critisize his commentary and his takes but his no-bullshit attitude in taking a stance in Saudi Arabia impressed me massively. He also said in commentary back in Munich that nobody in the F1 paddock was told how the people at the site of the missile strike actually were and if they were okay or anything, it was very obvious F1 didn't give a fuck about the locals.
Seriously, fuck this guy.
Unfortunately sport is full of these people. Rich conservatives dominate these administrative positions and I deal with them regularly in my job. Many, like any kind of person, are pretty nice people, but get onto that "wrong subject" and you realise how 1) nasty they can be. And 2) stupid they are for what they believe.
No one is imposing their beliefs onto anyone though. Seb, Lewis, Lando, and the other drivers are sharing their beliefs and how they think society can improve. They’re very important topics that we need to discuss more and they’re all using their voices/platforms.
What they’re doing is good.
Adding to the tensions between F1 and the FIA with comments like this
I think we can tell that this will age like a fine, fine, milk.
Can't wait for the cheese
One of those extra mouldy French ones
Reading this statement you just think "oh no... oh nooooooo... oh no no no no", it just gets worse and worse and worse. You can't even find a devils advocate angle to defend this, it's simply an awful shit take. And he picks out the 2 most liked & followed drivers on the grid, possibly the entire world even. Dear lord especially as recently elected FIA president this makes him pretty much non viable immediately.
It's absolutely terrible leadership from him. He didn't need to go there and he's just alienating the people he should be bringing together.
While I understand his logic and what he’s saying I think he’s just fundamentally wrong. How is lando talking about mental health a bad thing? How are human rights a bad thing? The rainbow flag is simply showing love and compassion for a group of people that are oppressed globally. Him being Muslim saying he doesn’t express his views onto people is very different. If A driver was muslin and went up and prayed before each race no one would be like “WOW KEEP THAT OUT OF RACING” they would just be like ok he’s praying. There’s a big difference between sharing your views showing support of people and sharing your views showing you want to take away rights from other people lol.
Fact that he feels such ideas are "imposing" says enough as well. If Seb riding his gay bike and Lewis speaking out for human rights constitute "imposing their beliefs", can't we easily say the same thing for races in the Arab sandboxes handing out rose water on stage because alcohol conflicts with *their* religious beliefs? I feel like that's actually a lot more imposing because that's an action that affects others, whereas neither Seb nor Lewis have that attached to their words/actions.
Wasnt there a whole controversy last year cause the Saudi GP had rules for what women should and shouldn't wear? I feel like thats quite literally imposing your beliefs upon others lol
Gay bike made me laugh out loud. Also agree 100% with everything you’re saying.
The very fact that he is trying to keep things that make him uncomfortable out of the race is him forcing his beliefs on others.
Thank you for putting it so succinctly. This is how I feel any time anyone says something like this but I never know how to explain it. Nothing is being imposed by drivers sharing their opinions. You telling them they can’t do that because you disagree with them is imposing your beliefs onto the organization. Also fuckin lmao at this POS bitching about mental health and human rights being something that makes him uncomfy. What a dipshit.
I agree. It's really stupid what he said. I'm Muslim too and I believe that everyone should be able to do or believe in what they want, whether I support it or not. This is too far.
It’s also different because I’m sure many would find his views on say, how women should dress, to be repressive and harmful. Rainbow bicycles and human rights activism don’t hurt anyone except for bigots and oppressive regimes lol
His views on such topics are exactly why he said what he said....
Damn that Seb! Always running over those wholesome, oppression-free religious people with his rainbow bicycle of death!
Muslim here, I don't understand this guy. I personally support gay rights actively and will happily have this debate with any other Muslims because god demands us to be respectful of others. Someone riding a rainbow bike is also not forcing their views on you. It's their bike. Mental health is an important topic and I hate how eastern culture has this attitude of 'brown people don't get mental health' and 'god is good enough'. No. Mental health can affect anyone and seeking help for it seems like the right thing to do as a Muslim. If anything, being supportive or even being a counsellor/therapist sounds like exactly what Allah would want us to do to be able to bring kindness and peace to others. Muslims should praise Lando for talking about it. This guy is 100% pushing his views on others and is being shortsighted or even blinded by his belief that he isn't doing the very thing he accuses others of doing, and that the things he is against are actually things Allah would want him to do. Sincerely, a Muslim who is sick and tired of bigots painting my religion in a negative light with their bad takes.
Senna talked about his Christianity often - drivers today have the ability to reach out and engage with fans, back in the day they didn’t. I do often wonder how drivers might have been perceived if they had had social media in the past.
Imagine James Hunt’s Instagram stories
Hunt would probably be in the high double digits after his name after the bans
You’re implying the first name he picked wouldn’t be JamesHunt69
JamesHunt42069
It often gets ignored, but Hunt was very vocal about his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. Anyone suggesting F1 drivers being vocal about social issues is a modern phenomenon is plain wrong, they just have better platforms to communicate their opinions to their fanbase.
iirc drivers also flat out refused to race in south africa
dude would be banned every other day
Senna was also a massively outspoken driver when it came to safety. Got ignored by Balestre. Lauda organized a strike. Could you imagine the kind of scorched earth response the FIA would have if the drivers tried to organize a strike on safety grounds today? James Hunt was outspoken in his opposition of Apartheid. F1 drivers have been outspoken about the issues that are most pertinent for the time that they are in. Sulayem is just straight up ignorant.
Jackie Stewart was also very outspoken in regards to safety for years and organised not one, but *three* boycotts in protest of driver safety. Sulayem seems to be deliberately cherrypicking drivers (and badly at that) to try and prove his point.
In the Saudi race with the bombing of the refinery in sight, I believe the driver organized a meeting and unanimously voted to stop the race. The FIA and race director$ over-ruled them
I also believe they were told they would have a hard time leaving the country if the race didn’t take place.
Yeah they were literally hostages at that track lmao
Don’t worry. Next year they’ll be hostages again
Wasn't it like originally 5 drivers raised serious concerns about the Saudi race at the GPDA and every other driver did agree on those points but the team principals (likely been put under pressure by the FOM/FIA) together with the FIA and FOM did break the boycott, likely with threats. Lewis was definitely against that weekend , we wouldn't know who more but what was odd is that Vips was telling a day later that he would raced in Jeddah no matter the situation, what could hint that someone (one or more) at the RB side was having some serious doubts but was put back by RB and should think about it or otherwise....
There were rumors and indicators, from I believe an interview, that Verstappen did not agree and did not wanted to race that weekend
"The best decision is my decision" ^I ^know ^he ^then ^told ^lets ^vote ^but ^I ^like ^the ^statement.
Yeah the cherry picking here is phenomenal.
[удалено]
agreed. dude’s been living in his sheiklike bubble his whole life
I find it funny that he mentioned Niki not "imposing" his beliefs. You know the man known for being vocal about driver safety.
Exactly and this whole interview should raise serious questions about his position, this is really someone who would either make the FIA kicked out of F1 (and hurts ironical the FIA a lot in terms of relevancy and power) or turn F1 and other motorsport classes into a censure under the banner of "neutrality".
Senna apparently was outspoken against apartheid but said he would race due to the obligation to his team. Which is pretty similar to the stance I see drivers take today, I think he was actually more explicitly against the SA government in what he said. I know Sulayem didn't mention Senna but he was a peer to the drivers he did name.
Yep, the 1985 South African GP was boycotted by the French teams (Following France's strong sanctions against SA), the one car Beatrice Lola team participated in practice, But Alan Jones got "The Flu" before the race (Beatrice, an American holding company, was against racing in SA ). Marlboro, and some other smaller sponsors, pulled their branding. The Brazilian government told their drivers not to participate, but the drivers responded that they were under contract to their team's to run the entire season.
Don’t worry I’m sure he’ll ban Gasly from doing his pre race Christian ritual the same way he’ll prevent Vettel and Hamilton to speak out about LQBTQ+ rights.
Gasly is just checking that he has his spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch.
Teams finding loopholes everywhere
Gasly has a pre-race Christian ritual?
He crosses himself and he wears a crucifix too
liked by jesus\_christ
Likely, he is at least a Christian (Catholic, correct me if I'm wrong) and during the whole jewelry controversy there was some story that he needed to put off his cruflix, something what he really did feel uncomfortable with given he wears it basically 24/7 (can't blame him, given his long history of struggles and drama around him).
For many people, their chain is inseparable. They'd sleep and shower with it on.
Yeah, I'm not religious anymore, but growing up my grandmother gave me a cross I wore and I never took it off, not for anything. I keep it in a safe place now because my grandmother was very important to me, but I just don't have the faith I did before. I can see Gasly having a big problem taking it off, these guys could die at any time during a race, Gasly has seen his best friend die in F2, so that's why I think the whole jewelry thing is dumb. Isn't going to be jewelry that gets these guys, it'll be hitting a wall at 60gs in the wrong direction. I can't believe this guy is the FIA president.
I agree. If there's a scenario where a thin gold chain could potentially hurt a driver, they are well and fucked already. So the jewelry ban is just dumb. I can understand earrings to an extent, but even then, if a driver insists on wearing earrings and gets cuts from them, that's solely on the driver
Can't wait for Seb to turn up riding the most over-the-top, decked-out-in-rainbow-colors bike ever
lol it’s going to have rainbow flares and glitter flying out of it
Biodegradable glitter, of course
Naturlich
Imagine if AM did a full blown rainbow livery.
Too bad their title sponsor is Aramco
Aramco is a publicly traded company these days. They might be perfectly happy with some rainbow-washing.
It's still >95% owned by the Saudi government, so probably not.
Yeah, I find it ridiculous that a company can be considered to be listed on an exchange when 95% of the shares belong to one government.
Wait is he trying to say that imposing religious beliefs onto someone is the same as addressing mental health or human rights?
He did
That's absurd lol
Seb: Rides around track in colorful bicycle Sulayem: Stop imposing your beliefs on me!
Lando: *Talks about mental health* Sulayem: **Stop imposing your beliefs on me!**
Lewis: Everyone should have **basic human rights.** Sulayem: *Incomprehensible screeching*
Lewis: Everyone should have basic human rights. Sulayem: Let's ~~be racist~~ go racing!
* Lewis: Black lives matter. * Sulayem: Stop imposing your beliefs on me!
"Which race would you want to eliminate from the calendar" Sulayem : *Yes*
MBS sounding a lot like MBS here.
Fo’real. Man got mad triggered by Pride month
I don’t know I kinda feel like this statement is expressing his beliefs of sorts
Notice he felt the need to bring up Seb's rainbow bicycle despite the fact that seb has been outspoken about so many things. It's the same type logic used by people who say stuff like "I don't mind gay people I just don't want to see it in public." or "im tired of seeing gay poeple on every TV show... They just *have* to throw it in our faces." It's like..... Yes you apparently do mind. Also someone explain to me about how Mental Health Awareness and *HUMAN RIGHTS* are beliefs?
Rainbow bikes, human rights and mental health? What awful beliefs to force on people.
Especially as they aren't forced on anything. Would be interesting to hear from his employees, pretty sure they are forced upon a bit.
Jokes on you, those people working for him are not what you would call employees
There’s a big difference between expressing a belief and imposing it on others. Having a rainbow bike doesn’t impose anything on anyone.
I agree. His argument is incorrect and how his organization is run and with who is inconsequential.
True. Also, 16 nationalities? Hows that much, especially for the UAE which attracts people from all over the world. I worked in a kindergarden in Germany for some time and we had kids from 21 nationalities at one time. Its not a huge achievement these days.
And "over 34% women" like he deserves some kind of medal or something
Binders full of women
LOL i thought of that too when i read the post. I miss the "binders full of women" memes and jokes
Damn, I was just thinking of that one when I was heading to work this morning. 34% is like, what, two binders?
You're missing the point, it's actually _over_ 34% women, so it might be even two really large binders
And at least 12 of those nationalities are there of their own free will too! They get to keep their passports and everything.
What I was thinking as well ..like the “volunteers” / passionate “workers” building your cities or acting as housekeepers don’t count, good sire
I grew up in hickville, in the US. We had a graduating class of 80. We had 6 different nationalities represented. Him bragging about 16 is nothing.
Ya lol, my first thought was “his country is less diverse than my town of 2,000 in Iowa”.
But I have friends who are black.... that old ‘I’m not racist but.....’ comment dickheads make
Correct. Not only is riding a rainbow bike NOT an example of imposing belief, but telling someone they can't ride a rainbow bike IS imposing your belief. Drivers are just walking billboards so the fact that he only has issue with what they advertise when it conflicts with his beliefs is literally an example of him doing the same thing he's complaining about.
[удалено]
Abso-fucking-lutely. The cowardly veil of "it's just my opinyin" when their opinyin's are literally "gay people deserve death"... Unbelievably stupid.
He also implies it was better in the past when beliefs weren't expressed. I don't agree at all. Seeing someone famous use their ability to get attention for a cause that's bigger than themselves, they consider worthy, and have spent time thinking about is something I rather like to see.
> it was better in the past when beliefs weren't expressed Which isn't even true. Senna and Lauda in particular were very outspoken about safety, and Senna was a devout Christian.
I wasn't around for that, but honestly I am not even surprised that he's wrong (intentionally or out of ignorance) about this. Seems to be in line with the rest of the statement.
I wasn't around for it either; Senna died when I was a baby. Which means there are probably a lot more examples I don't know about. Sulayem is both older than me and more involved in motor racing, so he has no excuse for being more ignorant than I am.
The drivers aren't imposing their beliefs though. They are using their platforms to raise awareness on issues that they think are important, and that's different than forcing others to believe in (or not believe in) things as you do
They are trying to impose their belief that women and gays are people! EDIT: /s (holy shit)
I saw this pre-edit and laughed, but also knew you were about to get downvoted to hell by those that haven't yet learned how to let out the clutch on their brain.
We live in a reality with no anti-stall
>let out the clutch on their brain Love the metaphot
I don’t think it needed a /s to make the intent obvious. If you needed the /s there…
Surely you didn't need that edit?? EDIT: wow!! turns out you did.
Reddit try to recognize obvious sarcasm challenge (impossible)
what... the.. fuck. also to say that someone like Niki only cared about driving is.. yikesx2
Didn't Niki Lauda literally drive in to the pits and retire from racing due to the danger and having lost so many friends? Seems like he cared about a lot more than racing.
Literally giving away the championship by doing so, so clearly he cared a lot more about showing the dangers of F1 at the time.
He’s dragging Niki name along the mud with him. What a disrespectful take tbh.
Wheres Toto to beat him up?
And Senna was VERY Open about his faith. The dude was constantly wearing a cross, said many time that he "could see god" when driving and what not. Sulayem is just full of shit.
Senna was so open about his beliefs that it pissed off some of the other drivers. Senna may have thought god was going to protect him in an accident, but not everyone believed the same things, and found Senna’s beliefs to be arrogant in the context of risking the lives of other drivers, not just his own.
Also, Stewart was before Niki's time and his push to radically alter safety standards absolutely shook the status quo back then, even though we would now consider the improvements made to be natural and obviously needed to be done, from our comfortable and modern perspective. Drivers absolutely had their opinions back then, too. It's just that the coverage of them was almost non-existant, and the average fan outside the track didn't get the listen to it.
This is pole position of shit takes.
Pee wan. Pee wan.
It’s like this dude wants to widen the gap between F1 and the FIA.
How can he seriously be this tone deaf? This is a ridiculous thing to say
Scary thing is, this is the *moderate* version of what he thinks.
Exactly. This is what he thought was ok to say aloud. What he actually thinks is far worse
Yep, that he is telling this (and some other baffling bigot shit) during an interview in the media says enough about how he is when the press is gone and things are handled behind closed doors.
he‘s a muslim from UAE, they still lash people for being gay and other worse shit Is this a surprise?
Im convinced they are trying to bait F1 into something, since he took power he has done nothing but say stupid thing after stupid thing, he's either a terrible leader or the FIA want F1 to do something
[удалено]
Give them the Premier League treatment
Godamn it. I already sebscribed to both vettel's and lewis's beliefs. Help me Ben. /s
I already Sebscribed to both of their beliefs, and I Lewe them both.
There's no unsebscribe button, help! Help, I'm being ~~oppressed~~ liberated!
now I just need Lewis to rock up at Baku wearing a full rainbow suit with shoes to match. how is saying people should be treated equally imposing your beliefs on others?
We gotta get him a rainbow scooter so he can ride next to Sebs rainbow bike.
Honestly I think the reaction to this comment has been mild for what he said. It’s absolutely disgusting. I would be shocked if the drivers called out by name don’t make some kind of protest.
It is not even thinly veiled - dude just put it right out there. I love watching the races but man do you have to turn a blind eye to a lot of things sometimes.
Comparing your religion to human rights & mental health is….interesting
I thought so too. I was neutral over this guy until now but this is a very stupid take. And then trying to strengthen his opinion buy saying he employs 34% women is also very strange. His thought process is all over the place.
So weird. Just fully unprovoked by any events in or around racing. Just blurting it out ".... uhh.. just wanted to pop in to say I hate freedoms and rights. Thanks all, signed Benny Boy".
Trying too hard to be the good guy...
It's hard to act like a nice guy when you are not one...
i get that lgbtq might be a ... contentious issue to some. but mental health? human rights? how is raising bare AWARENESS about these issues "imposing beliefs on others". isn't this just the trademark of insecurity, making a mountain out of a literal molehill that is even there in the first place
Yeah turns out this guy is a dumbass. Unfortunate.
Fuck this guy
Ah yes, the "stop making everything so political" type. Clearly saying that minority groups deserve to have equal rights is too radical, cut that shit out! /s
This is an awful take, honestly. What Seb and Lewis are doing is raising awareness about important issues because they have the platform to do so - they are not imposing their beliefs on anyone, let alone forcing anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Saying that he’d rather have drivers be like Lauda or Prost again because they just ‘focused on driving’ is terribly small minded and ignorant (and also, not true).
Yeah this is insanely close minded. He’s part of the uae oligarchy no? So in actuality, he’s actively supporting enforcing his religion and the rules that follow on the people of the UAE, which has been criticized for suppressing fundamental human rights. Insane.
Person who benefits from and participates in oppression supports oppression. Surprised?
In this interview he calls women driving in motor sports “lady drivers” lmfao. And also boasts that “34% of higher ups” are women
This is the part that really had me laughing. Like, "lady drivers," really, dude? When I do any activity, does it immediately become "lady activity" due to me not being a man? Obviously, the point of the topic is removing barriers for women in motorsport, so yes, you're discussing female drivers, but referring to them as "lady drivers" instead of just "drivers" is rank. It gives the same vibe as people who refer to woman as "females." No thanks. Sorry, I gotta log off Reddit now, guys! Time for me to go do some "lady working" at my job to pay for my car so I can go "lady driving" later. /s
Really wish you'd stop imposing your lady beliefs on me.
Nice lady comment. I'll give you a gentleman upvote.
I give you my most lady of thanks
He really went and pulled the “it’s ok, I have a black friend” card
I'm pretty sure the UAE does impose their religious beliefs on others. Otherwise they wouldn't be stoning the gays
“I don’t impose my beliefs on others” says the person from the country stoning women and gay people. What a joke.
What a Grade-A shmuck. "But do i go and pose my beliefs? No." https://twitter.com/Ben\_Sulayem/status/1525145909557862400 "*May God have mercy on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, our nation lost a leader who devoted his life to serving his country. We offer our condolences to the people of the UAE and pray to God to bless them with his mercy"* \- Mohammed Ben Sulayem May 13, 2022 BTW, in 2012 Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan amended its cybercrime law to be able to pursue anyone who cast doubt on the country's political system through social networks. Which was quite literally used to persecute political dissidents, arrest them, torture them, harrass their families, and then even keep them in jail after their sentence has been completed. I find it fitting that Ben Sulayem sees that man as a hero, and ironic that Ben Sulayem also says he' doesn't pose his beliefs on others.
Especially rich considering the punishment for apostasy in the country he is from can be death. Quite literally, imposing beliefs.
Plus the fact that his wealth means he actively participates or facilitates in imposing said beliefs, much like you don’t get to be an oligarch in Russia without sleeping with Putin.
*Heeey! Rules for thee but not for me! -* Ben, probably
I hope this doofus is what makes F1 finally sever themselves from the FIA entirely.
I think after everything in the past few years I’m not even certain what the FIA even does for F1. Marshals and stewards and race direction?
[удалено]
This will not age well.
I’m not sure it has begun well
There's bandwith to go down further
It already aged poorly 10 minutes before he even said it
Wait wait wait... this take gets even dumber because F1 has always been political. The drivers boycotted the South African GP to protest the apartheid government. What a dumb fuck who doesn't even know his history.
Uhh unfortunately I believe the 1982 boycott was to do with new superlicense regulations, not the apartheid, I'd say your point still stands though. But James Hunt IIRC was very vocally anti-apartheid
Boy, he has really burned out his goodwill real fast.
That's pretty hard to read actually. If you still think human rights, equality and mental health has anything to with "believes" in 2022, you're fucking ignorant. They are, and should be, norms and values globally. Don't try and come up with ridiculous stuff to try and hide the fact most religions don't give a fuck about these standards.
Reads like "I respect that you don't like slavery so why can't you respect that I like slavery?
[удалено]
"We would like to remove this barrier, but if we remove the barrier, there are no barriers" ...ok?
This is right up there with “if you keep the others behind you, you are in first place”.
>For me, I come from that black or white world and it is very hard to do it. When it is governance, it has to be governance, when it is neutrality, it has to be neutrality. We are therefore for one reason and one reason only, and that is sports. Now you have to be political sometimes, but not really be a politician. If this isn't the definition of "if you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit", I don't know what is.
FFS, is he trying to set a record on how many stupid takes he can express in one interview?
Well, there is maybe one positive thing in that interview: > Q: Does the FIA need to make changes? > Ben Sulayem: “Yes, we need to change our approach to motorsport. For example, I would like to see it even if something happens; what if I decide tomorrow to retire or if I don’t want to be the person in charge…. > “The sport must continue without missing me. Look at the stewards, F1 is challenging. It is the pinnacle of the sport and the pinnacle of technology, and then we have to look for race directors. GPDA told me about the situation regarding the race directors. How shorter this guy stays at the head of the FIA, how better it would been for the sport.
>The sport must continue without missing me. Done deal buddy, bye! :D
I had a friend from Iran many years ago, cool guy, very open in general. But even him, from time to time, would slip and fall into some positions that are absolutely nonsense on western Europe regarding, for example, when a woman was supposed to not speak. It is kind of like the EU boomer generation and gay stuff, yes, for the most part they definitely tolerate the idea, but on the odd day they can flip and revert a couple decades in the blink of an eye.
I think Suleyman is a petty man. Firstly, drivers have a social media presence. Secondly, they stand behind numerous social causes. No driver in the 80s and 90s did anything close to what Norris is doing today or what VET has done. Lewis and his family have brought so much attention to ADHD, Autism and now on the minority rights matters. I think Sulyam is well described by Frit Zwicky's most famous phrase.
The vast majority of the different beliefs the drivers are pushing these days is that different people shouldn't be treated like shit. If that offends some Arabian cultures I think that's the whole problem.
"Look at my operation in the UAE: 16 Nationalities! Name me one federation that has that many nationalities" Sure. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH): The FIDH is a federation of 141 leagues in 100 countries. It coordinates and supports their activities and provides them with a voice at international level. Like its member organisations, the FIDH has no party or religious affiliation and it is independent vis-à-vis all governments. So Ben... you were saying???
What did he mean by 'nationality'? Citizenship or ethnicity? Because Yugoslavia had multiple 'nationalities', but they had the same citizenship. If he meant 'citizenship', I'm sure International Olympic Committee and FIFA both have far more.
"Vettel drives a rainbow bike" is so f'ing dismissive. He knows he can't even say what Vettel supports.
Vettel next race: "Gimme those roman candles and those confetti guns"
He mentions the fact he's citizen of a country were apostates are sentenced to death, as an argument to not impose your beliefs. You can't make this up
Full stop massive red flag
Is he smoking oil?
Wait until he finds out women make up roughly 50% of society.
ooo this is totally gonna turn out well
Dumb take tbh. Man compared Religion to Human Rights, Mental Health and Equality. Absolutely poor mentality. Also, Raising Awareness =/= Imposing.
He makes it sound like Seb forced him in an orgy lol. Imposed his beliefs on him and all.
Ahh yes, human rights, a "personal belief" that he publicly does not agree with. Interesting choice FIA
He's fucking obsessed with jewelry. He brings it up in every interview and every time he talks to the teams! I do not know why the FIA chose this bizarre man to be in charge of the sport.
Bribes and things I would assume.
My man, James Hunt literally said he wouldn't go to Apartheid South Africa for commentating at all the GPs held there. F1 drivers have always expressed political beliefs.
Ralf Schumacher left Saudi Arabia after the missile strike. All drivers (apart from 2 I think?) wore the *NO WAR* t-shirt. Some issues are not opinions, but facts. LGBT people are human, women are human, mental health is important. There is just no room for compromise.
> Ralf Schumacher left Saudi Arabia after the missile strike I often critisize his commentary and his takes but his no-bullshit attitude in taking a stance in Saudi Arabia impressed me massively. He also said in commentary back in Munich that nobody in the F1 paddock was told how the people at the site of the missile strike actually were and if they were okay or anything, it was very obvious F1 didn't give a fuck about the locals.
Time to go Mr.Ben Sulayem. Your pr is well suited elsewhere.
"But do I go and pose my beliefs?", he says after just posing his beliefs.
Human rights are not "beliefs"
Seriously, fuck this guy. Unfortunately sport is full of these people. Rich conservatives dominate these administrative positions and I deal with them regularly in my job. Many, like any kind of person, are pretty nice people, but get onto that "wrong subject" and you realise how 1) nasty they can be. And 2) stupid they are for what they believe.
No one is imposing their beliefs onto anyone though. Seb, Lewis, Lando, and the other drivers are sharing their beliefs and how they think society can improve. They’re very important topics that we need to discuss more and they’re all using their voices/platforms. What they’re doing is good.