Why was taking a knee a step too far for some F1 drivers?

Formula 1's return in Austria came in a vastly-different global climate to the one in which the planned season-opener in Australia was cancelled in March. The true severity and devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic only became clear shortly after most of the F1 paddock had returned home, forcing the opening 10 races of the season to be called off.

But as F1 geared up to get the season underway, anti-racism protests and activism were sparked across the world in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the United States at the end of May. It prompted people of all races, cultures and social standing to think about their stance against racial injustice. While efforts against racism will never go far enough until it is eradicated completely, what more can we do?

It is something Lewis Hamilton - the only black driver in F1 history - encouraged his peers to consider. He called on them to use their platforms to amplify the message condemning racism, with many subsequently doing so.

The growing discourse also prompted actions within F1. F1 itself announced a new 'We Race as One' campaign focusing on greater inclusivity and diversity in the sport, as well as addressing other societal issues such as climate change. (It must be noted that the campaign was planned prior to Floyd's murder, initially called 'We Race On'.) Mercedes also made a commitment to improve diversity within its team, revealing just 3% of its workforce identified as belonging to an ethnic minority background, and changed its cars to black liveries for the 2020 season.

With a number of other sports leagues making public actions to condemn racism upon their resumption, discussions began between the F1 drivers over a similar move. In the Premier League, all players took a knee before kick-off in each of the first games back, with the move being repeated in a number of games since. All players wore shirts with 'Black Lives Matter' in place of their names for the opening round of fixtures.

Talks between the F1 drivers over taking a knee - a gesture first made famous by NFL player Colin Kaepernick that has since become synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement - intensified through the week before their first group meeting in Friday's drivers' briefing.

Hamilton himself did not request his other drivers take a knee, revealing the suggestion was first made in the briefing by Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean, the two active drivers who are directors of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association along with Alexander Wurz.

But the idea was not met with complete support. Some drivers raised concerns over taking a knee and the implications within their own cultures and nations, and said they would not do so. The GPDA issued a statement ahead of qualifying confirming drivers would be free to act as they each saw fit ahead of the race, with time being allocated in the schedule for a public show of unity condemning racism.

After qualifying, I asked Hamilton if he felt he had the support of his fellow drivers over the matter, and whether he himself planned to take a knee.

"We are not going to try to put anyone in jeopardy. No-one is going to be judged or criticised if they don't stand there in a certain way or take a knee" Daniel Ricciardo

"We spoke a bit in the drivers' briefing," Hamilton said. He paused. "Yep. Interesting." It was a hint at the division that later became clear on the grid.

Hamilton continued: "But it was good that we're kind of all at least in discussion. I don't know what we'll see tomorrow. I think potentially people paying their respects in their own ways." During the briefing, Hamilton thanked his peers who had used their platforms in the wake of his call to action at the end of May, and encouraged those who had not yet to do so.

"I just described the scenario that silence is generally complicit," he said. "There still is some silence in some cases, but I think it's also part of a dialogue of people trying to understand."

Hamilton revealed after the race that he did not request in the meeting that all drivers kneel.

"There was a little bit of difficulty with some drivers and their nationality, and what something like taking a knee would represent," Renault's Daniel Ricciardo explained. "Obviously the reasons why we would do it is purely to support Black Lives Matter. It is for nothing political or anything else. But there is a little bit of a fine line with some drivers and their nationalities and how it is perceived.

"We are not going to try to put anyone in jeopardy. No-one is going to be judged or criticised if they don't stand there in a certain way or take a knee."

In the build-up to lights out, both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen put messages on social media reiterating their commitment to fighting racism, but confirmed they would not take a knee.

"I believe that what matters are facts and behaviours in our daily life rather than formal gestures that could be seen as controversial in some countries," wrote Leclerc. "I will not take the knee but this does not mean at all that I am less committed than others in the fight against racism."

"I am very committed to equality and the fight against racism. But I also believe everyone has the right to express themselves at a time and in a way that suits them," said Verstappen. "I will not take the knee today as I came to Austria to race, but respect and support the personal choices every driver makes in how they express themselves."

All drivers wore t-shirts reading 'End Racism' for the grid ceremony, with the exception of Hamilton, whose shirt carried a message reading 'Black Lives Matter'. Shortly before the national anthem, a moment of silence and reflection was announced.

Fourteen of the 20 drivers took a knee. Leclerc and Verstappen were joined in standing by Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr. A number of other team personnel on the grid, including Verstappen's car crew, also took a knee.

It looked stilted, not aided by the lateness of getting to the front of the grid for a couple of drivers. In the moment of silence, the whole world could see who knelt and who did not.

Hamilton said after the race that he was grateful to those who took a knee, but stressed the greater importance of the wider message the F1 community remained united in conveying.

"I'm really, really grateful for those who did kneel along with me," Hamilton said. "I think it's still a really powerful message.

"But ultimately whether or not you kneel or do not kneel, that's not going to change the world. And it's a much, much bigger issue across the world.

"For me personally, I think everyone had a right to their own personal choice. And for me personally, that was what I felt was right to do."

In the Premier League, not a single player has refused to take a knee. They acted as strong, unified, visual messages

And yes, that personal choice is important. There is a need for drivers to respect each other's views and backgrounds. Deciding not to kneel does not mean those six drivers are racist or do not care about anti-racism. There is zero accusation of that. The action of kneeling has different meanings in various countries as Ricciardo said. In many nations, you kneel before the flag alone.

Reading the messages from Leclerc and Verstappen, their decision not to stand seemed to be more about showing solidarity with the drivers who did not wish to kneel than their own personal views. Lando Norris posted a message warning against "assumptions about what decisions drivers take on the grid to express their support against racism", but he still knelt on the grid.

Verstappen's "I came to Austria to race" comment also smacked of missing the bigger picture, wishing to keep social issues out of sport, something I wrote about last month.

NASCAR was more effective in its public condemnation of racism in the wake of the noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega last month. Every single driver walked with Wallace as his car was pushed down the pit lane ahead of the race. There was total unity.

The same has been true in the Premier League. Not a single player has refused to take a knee. They acted as strong, unified, visual messages.

It must be noted that the diversity within both NASCAR and football is far greater than in F1. All Premier League players have BAME team-mates and colleagues working behind the scenes. In F1, among the drivers at least, it is literally one person trying to get the message across.

The priority is that none of these actions are performative. Social media was filled with black squares on 'Blackout Tuesday' at the start of June as people conveyed their support for the ongoing anti-racism movements. But the conversation could not stop there. It must continue. We all have to continue to educate ourselves and keep learning about the matter.

The same is true in F1. It cannot end with a knee being taken. Hamilton wrote on social media after the race he hoped it would mark "an emotional and poignant chapter in the progress of making F1 a more diverse and inclusive sport". That is something we must all be committed to working toward, and goes far beyond the act taking a knee.

This very fact this conversation is taking place suggests change is coming in F1. Five years ago, the official message from F1 on the matter would likely have come from Bernie Ecclestone. His views stated last month have no place within the sport or society, and it was welcome to see F1 distance itself from its former CEO and now-exiled chairman emeritus.

Change in F1 is necessary, and it will require more than taking a knee to make it happen. But regardless of their reasoning, the fact not all 20 drivers did so on Sunday was a visual break in the solidarity and unified message F1 has been trying to convey.