Formula 1: Kimi Raikkonen on Lewis Hamilton: ‘Stay home and forget the racing’

Kimi Raikkonen’s suggestion in response to fellow Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s stance on climate change? Stay home and forget the racing.

2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen joined two-time champion Fernando Alonso in calling out the hypocrisy of five-time champion Lewis Hamilton as it pertains to his stances on climate change.

After Alonso called him out for effectively telling his fans what to eat and what not to eat and posting an emotional message on his Instagram story accusing people of “not caring” about the world even though the lifestyle he lives as a Formula 1 driver is far more detrimental to the environment than the lifestyles of his fans, Raikkonen stated that burning fuel is exactly what Formula 1 drivers do, and for nothing more than sport.

The 40-year-old Finn even went a step further, however.

Alonso did not align with nor distance himself from Hamilton’s beliefs in his message, whereas Raikkonen stated that he agrees with Hamilton’s sentiment in that “it involves everybody who lives on this planet”.

But Raikkonen also responded to Hamilton by saying that Formula 1 drivers probably aren’t in the best position to make such claims and that maybe “we should all stay home and forget the racing”. Here is what he had to say, according to ESPN.

"“I mean, for sure we try to do our part always if and when it’s possible, but I think F1 is in probably not the strongest place to tell people that this is what we should do, because to really go that route we should all stay home and forget the racing.”"

Classic Kimi.

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Of course, further proving Raikkonen’s (and Alonso’s) point, this isn’t going to happen. Alonso is retired now, but Raikkonen and Hamilton both arrived at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico ahead of this Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix at the track, as did all 18 of the other drivers.

Did you expect anything different?

The Mexican Grand Prix is a 71-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.674-mile (4.303-kilometer) Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico.

Hamilton, who is sponsored by oil and gas company Petronas and drives cars for a living, burns tons of fuel over the course of a race, as do the other 19 drivers — and 21 times per year, no less (22 times next year).

To do so, Hamilton and many others, not just the other 19 drivers, spend far more time jetting around the globe on planes than any of the millions of fans that Hamilton is preaching to when he tells them not to eat meat. Those 21 races take place across 21 different countries on five continents.

Maybe Formula 1 should take Kimi Raikkonen’s advice and just “stay home and forget the racing” if the issue is so important to the point where Lewis Hamilton is willing to post about “giving up” and being “sad” on his Instagram story as he tries to tell everybody else how to live.