(Reuters) – Formula One’s governing body set out new pre- and post-race rules for driver attire on Sunday in a move that bars world champion Lewis Hamilton from wearing campaigning T-shirts on the podium.
The Briton wore a black T-shirt at the Tuscan Grand Prix two weeks ago with the words “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” on the front and a photograph of the slain Black medical worker on the back with “Say her name”.
Taylor was killed by police officers who burst into her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.
The Mercedes driver, a six-times world champion, has also routinely worn a Black Lives Matter T-shirt when taking a knee alongside other drivers before races in an organised and officially sanctioned anti-racism campaign.
Hamilton, who could equal Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91 wins in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, had said this week that he expected the governing FIA to react.
The rules require drivers to wear T-shirts with the “End Racism” message in the pre-race activity before the national anthem.
Hamilton reverted to wearing the Black Lives Matter shirt on Sunday, when he also took a knee.