Poll: Will Lewis Hamilton leave F1 after the 2020 season for climate change related reasons?

[AJI]

As per the title.

Personally, I think yes! And he'll end up in Formula E in his own team

[Maplesoup]

No he'll stay for at least 1 or 2 more years, it's highly unlikely he'll end up in formula e

[El Scorchio]

If he wins the world championship this year he may. But then I think he’s just as likely to want to try for 8 or break any remaining records. The competitior in him is just too strong.

And I believe he does want to race against Verstappen and Leclerc to prove he’s better than them as well.

But my hunch is no. He’s the best driver and he’s in a great team. Carry on until the good times stop.

[AJI]

If he wins the world championship this year he may....
.....Carry on until the good times stop.

So if he wins this year he may stop, and if he loses this year he may stop...

We shouldn't underestimate the 'Greta effect' on Lewis. He's a celebrity, he wants to be green, but he picked the wrong career.
End of 2020 would be the perfect time to retire. Win or lose he'll always be a champion.

[Jolle]

I think/hope Hamilton will use his importance in Formula one to make it a bit more ethical. Not just for the negative impact on the environment but also to ensure the future of events like F1.

[LM10]

If he wins the world championship this year he may....
.....Carry on until the good times stop.

So if he wins this year he may stop, and if he loses this year he may stop...

We shouldn't underestimate the 'Greta effect' on Lewis. He's a celebrity, he wants to be green, but he picked the wrong career.
End of 2020 would be the perfect time to retire. Win or lose he'll always be a champion.

Not only his career, but also his lifestyle isn't really green. He most probably is the most travelling driver on the grid. Thousands of kilometres everytime there is an opportunity during season.
I don't think he would stop with that at all once he retires, so why should he retire in the first place, if the CO2 emissions of F1 cars make up for only 0,7% of combined emissions of F1 business?

[izzy]

I think/hope Hamilton will use his importance in Formula one to make it a bit more ethical. Not just for the negative impact on the environment but also to ensure the future of events like F1.

exactly, he's pretty much said this hasn't he? It's not a solution to give up fun, they have to make it use less fossil fuel. F1 and green isn't about how much F1 actually uses itself anyway, it's about setting an example and being aspirational in a green way, and Lewis' best contribution is to push it in that direction like he does already. F1 is what makes his being vegan matter, and that is a big factor all on its own. Once he retires he'll have less influence.

Then there are lots of things F1 can do yet still race. Use non-fossil fuel, smaller engines with more battery, redo the itinerary so they only go once round the world instead of zigging to and fro, etc etc. Just imagine if he made it cool to have only 2 kids

[AJI]

I'm surprised the cars make up that much? I'd have thought more like 0.07%. Either way, the car's output is irrelevant...

This isn't about an individuals co2 footprint whilst in the car, it's about the overall co2 footprint of that individual.
Lewis is arguably the biggest celebrity on the grid, therefore his involvement makes his footprint the largest simply because he makes the sport more popular. If he withdrew from public life tomorrow he'd make the largest difference because less people would go to races. No?
Sure, the celebrity void would be filled by Charles and Max et al , but it would be one helluva a statement!
I'm looking at this from where he is in his career and from his recent green bent. He has nothing more to prove from a racing POV, whether you're a fan or not no one can deny he's a champion, and he's definitely thinking about his impact on the environment and publicly positioning himself in the green camp.

[Just_a_fan]

Hamilton can hardly stand up and bash people over the head with climate change when he flies around the world every weekend to a party here, a fashion show there etc. He's sold his private jet, of course, which would have produced 1.67 tonnes CO2 per flight from London to Los Angeles, but he's still moving around the world a lot and presumably just chartering private flights each time. I doubt he's flying commercial or we'd see photos of him at various airports in amongst the crowds waiting for their bags.

[PlatinumZealot]

Hamilton can hardly stand up and bash people over the head with climate change when he flies around the world every weekend to a party here, a fashion show there etc. He's sold his private jet, of course, which would have produced 1.67 tonnes CO2 per flight from London to Los Angeles, but he's still moving around the world a lot and presumably just chartering private flights each time. I doubt he's flying commercial or we'd see photos of him at various airports in amongst the crowds waiting for their bags.

I think this is not bad if you view it as Hamilton as one single person representing the cause of thousands? So In a sense taking up one plane seat instead of thousands? That actually quite efficient if we are to say he is some sort of tree-hugging ambassador.

[Just_a_fan]

Hamilton can hardly stand up and bash people over the head with climate change when he flies around the world every weekend to a party here, a fashion show there etc. He's sold his private jet, of course, which would have produced 1.67 tonnes CO2 per flight from London to Los Angeles, but he's still moving around the world a lot and presumably just chartering private flights each time. I doubt he's flying commercial or we'd see photos of him at various airports in amongst the crowds waiting for their bags.

I think this is not bad if you view it as Hamilton as one single person representing the cause of thousands? So In a sense taking up one plane seat instead of thousands? That actually quite efficient if we are to say he is some sort of tree-hugging ambassador.

No, not really. Whichever way you look at it, flying around the world is not a green thing to do. If you do it, don't slap people in the face for doing much less polluting things.

[izzy]

No, not really. Whichever way you look at it, flying around the world is not a green thing to do. If you do it, don't slap people in the face for doing much less polluting things.

he hasn't actually slapped anyone tho, apart from 'world leaders', eg Bolsonaro, Vlad, Donald and Fat Boris

[Big Tea]

Think of the savings of staying in on Sunday afternoon instead of going on a jolly x several million. It must add up.

[Manoah2u]

He'll stay in F1 to not just reach Schumi's 7 titles, but go for the 8th. So no, he won't leave after 2020.
Whether he'll stay with Mercedes or switch to Ferrari is another story alltogether, but no, he won't leave for supposed climate stories.

If he even slightly honestly cared for stuff like that he wouldn't be driving million-dollar supercar gas guzzlers but solely driving cars that have the fake
image that they're environmentally friendly like hybrids or teslas. might he invest in some environment friendly or climate change causes? yeah, sure.
step out of f1 for that? hell no.

and make no mistake, Formula E is not environment friendly AT ALL if you actually delve into the deep depths and real truths of it.

[AJI]

He'll stay in F1 to not just reach Schumi's 7 titles, but go for the 8th. So no, he won't leave after 2020.
Whether he'll stay with Mercedes or switch to Ferrari is another story alltogether, but no, he won't leave for supposed climate stories.

If he even slightly honestly cared for stuff like that he wouldn't be driving million-dollar supercar gas guzzlers but solely driving cars that have the fake
image that they're environmentally friendly like hybrids or teslas. might he invest in some environment friendly or climate change causes? yeah, sure.
step out of f1 for that? hell no.

and make no mistake, Formula E is not environment friendly AT ALL if you actually delve into the deep depths and real truths of it.

I'm not so sure he doesn't care about "stuff like that..."

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/news ... tal-impact

And practically nothing is environmentally friendly if you look into it. Humanity spontaneously disappearing from the planet would be the only thing would fix the environment, but if no one's here to notice how environmentally friendly you are what's the point?

This isn't about actually doing something good for the environment, it's about the perception that you're doing something good for the environment, or more to the point, that you are doing something good for the environment and by implication everyone else isn't, such is the binary world we now live in...