F1 to replace knee gesture with more action

Formula 1 will no longer allocate time for drivers to take the knee prior to races as it moves towards greater action to address a lack of diversity within the sport.

Since the start of the delayed 2020 season, F1 has carried "We Race As One" messaging in an attempt to promote inclusivity and diversity, including a video playing pre-race and drivers taking a knee together. While the video will still be broadcast before each event, F1 has confirmed the knee gesture will be discontinued as it says it is focusing on raising awareness through actions by extending its funding for its engineering scholarships for underrepresented groups.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told Sky Sports says it is important that the previous gesture be followed by an actual commitment to try and improve opportunities.

“I think the gesture has been an important gesture because we need to respect everyone, as always,” Domenicali said. “But now is the time to move on and take some other action.

“We needed to make sure that what we did was important to show the intention of Formula 1 in things that were really important for the world. I think now it's the matter of (changing from) gesture, to action. Now the action is the focus on the diversity of our community, and this is the first step.”

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The Formula 1 Engineering Scholarships were launched last year, including funding from a personal $1 million donation from F1’s non-executive chairman Chase Carey. The first 10 recipients have already started their degrees, with the scholarship covering the full cost of their tuition and living expenses for the duration.

On Tuesday, F1 announced it would be supporting another 10 students each year for another four years up to and including 2025.

“We are committed to increasing diversity and opportunity within this incredible sport and I am pleased to confirm that we will be expanding our program for scholars until 2025, providing fantastic opportunities for some incredibly talented students to being their journeys with Formula 1," F1 said in a statement announcing the move. “We want to continue to ensure that talent from underrepresented groups has meaningful opportunities, with the first 10 scholars already beginning their studies following Chase’s incredible donation to fund the scholars in their first year. We want to continue and build on the foundations of the program in the years ahead.”