Lewis Hamilton’s Grand Prix of hypocrisy

The height of glory in ancient Rome was the Triumph – a huge procession and celebration for a victorious general. Caesar paraded the conquered Vercingetorix and his defeated Gauls through the streets of Rome during one, before Vercingetorix was executed. It was the culmination of a long parade, featuring mock naval battles and a cash payout for every citizen.

Mindful that this kind of adulation could go to a powerful citizen’s head, the Romans followed it with a quieter tradition. A slave would stand behind the victorious general, reminding him over and over that he was only a man and would one day die.

Perhaps Lewis Hamilton, seven-time Formula 1 (F1) world champion, could do with a similar exhortation following one of his own champagne-drenched podium triumphs. It now seems as if his blend of arrogance and hypocrisy is starting to catch up with him.

After years of lobbying for an African F1 event, Hamilton was granted his wish earlier this month, when it was announced that Rwanda would host its own Grand Prix from the beginning of the 2030s. Yet awkwardly for him, this is the same Rwanda whose army was sanctioned by the US in March, for supporting the rebel group M23 in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Amnesty International has gone so far as to say that M23’s abuses may amount to war crimes. The DRC’s foreign minister says she warned F1’s chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, that holding the race in Rwanda would be ‘morally indefensible’.

Although Hamilton has regularly used his fame to promote woke causes, he has been oddly silent on the question of Rwanda’s human-rights abuses. ‘I don’t get to choose where we go’, he said last week and called for ‘humility’ when passing judgement on African countries. While he conceded that Rwanda does have issues, he blamed these on ‘colonialism and the West intervening’. He then called on world powers to ‘free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria and free Palestine’.

Such ‘humility’ on hot-button issues, if sincere, would be a marked shift for Hamilton. At the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020, he wore a t-shirt demanding the arrest of the police officers who killed African American medical worker Breonna Taylor. The following year, he raced in a rainbow helmet in both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Speaking in Jeddah at the time, he said: ‘Do I feel comfortable here? I wouldn’t say I do. But it’s not my choice to be here.’ He even called Saudi Arabia’s anti-gay laws ‘pretty terrifying’. At least in this instance, he was willing to put his money where his mouth was, unlike many of our knee-taking footbalers when they set foot in the Middle East.

Could Hamilton’s sudden diffidence on Rwanda have something to do with the fact that an African Grand Prix was his own idea? Racing in Africa has ‘been my dream’, he also said last week. He hopes, apparently, that the event will encourage people to learn about the continent. He insists that ‘Going there doesn’t mean that you neglect the things that are happening there’.

At his next press conference, I would like to hear someone ask Hamilton directly about Rwanda’s actions in the DRC, given his usual enthusiasm for foreign affairs. He has been only too happy to criticise other countries on the F1 circuit. And why should his own lobbying efforts get a free pass if rewarding Rwanda has been the result?

Hamilton has also claimed the potential for this African race means he is ‘forced to stay a lot longer’ in the sport. I’m sure that has nothing to do with his desire to eclipse Michael Schumacher’s World Championship wins… Still, let’s imagine he does make it onto the top of the podium in Rwanda. I wonder how much he would appreciate someone behind him, echoing the tradition of the Roman Triumph. Perhaps someone whispering ‘Free Congo’ amid the celebrations.

James Price was previously chief of staff to the chancellor of the exchequer.