Lewis Hamilton won’t be happy with the FIA’s decision.
Lewis Hamilton’s wishes to hold the FIA end-of-year Prize Gala in Paris, France for “sustainability” reasons have fallen on deaf ears. The Brit, a passionate environmentalist and vegan, questioned the environmental impact of flying out to Baku, Azerbaijan for the event this year when the FIA could have hosted the prize-giving in Paris, where their headquarters are based.
Nevertheless, the FIA decided to hold its 2024 Gala in Kigali, Rwanda—a location even further removed from northern Europe—instead of heeding Hamilton’s advice. Hamilton, who was there to collect his third-place trophy, was asked what he thought about Baku hosting in 2023. He responded, “I don’t feel a particular way.”
“Although Baku is a truly lovely place, I have doubts about the FIA’s commitment to sustainability given the volume of people who traveled here and the fact that the FIA is located in Paris, where it would have been simpler to stay.
“But it’s a gorgeous arena, and it’s a night we all get to get together and celebrate all the amazing drivers that I wouldn’t get to see during the year, and all the accomplishments of the great people working in the sport.”
Most of the end-of-year awards in recent years have taken place at the FIA headquarters in France. However, it traveled to Bologna, Italy, last year, and Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2023.
At the ceremony were Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Cristian Horner, and Sergio Perez. The drivers received their third, second, and first-place trophies, respectively, and Horner represented Red Bull by winning the Constructors’ Championship.
In 2023, Verstappen and Red Bull completely destroyed their rivals by finishing the season with enormous leads over them. Despite his distaste for consistently losing to his opponents, Hamilton was quick to compliment the current champions.
“I must express my sincere gratitude to Red Bull, Max, and Checo for their outstanding efforts this year,” he remarked. “Max performed flawlessly, and the team exceeded expectations.”
“I do think we can close that gap, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. I also want to thank my team, who this year never gave up. For the majority of the year, we drove the sister vehicle from the previous year, which wasn’t very enjoyable to drive, but nobody gave up and they all showed up every day, and that’s what was most encouraging.
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