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Hamilton explains why he missed taking the knee for BLM
Before the Italian Grand Prix, there was another opportunity for the drivers to make a statement against racism. Lewis Hamilton, however, was absent. The Mercedes driver missed the moment due to a mistimed visit to the restroom.
"It was just the timing," explained Hamilton to Racefans.net. The six-time world champion explains what went wrong. "I went back to my garage, our pit box was furthest away from all the teams. I took the scooter back with me, but I didn't have any time left. I thought I would be back in time."
In the end, it turned out I wasn't. "Normally, I'm accompanied when I need to leave, and I left when I was told to leave the garage. By the time I came back, everyone had already kneeled down."
"Not the end of the world"
Hamilton agrees that it was not a convenient action of his. "I certainly missed the moment, that's right. But it's not the end of the world. I got to see my team going on their knees again, which I think is great. And we'll just try to do better next time in terms of timing. Maybe I won't go all the way back to my garage when it's that far away. In the past, there used to be another toilet somewhere closer by."
Hamilton wasn't the only driver missing. Sebastian Vettel was also absent.