Ahead of the final three races in the Middle East, seven-time world champions Lewis Hamilton on Thursday said Formula One is “duty bound” to raise awareness of human rights issues.

Hamilton has spoken out on human rights issues multiple times before and even played a significant role in the release of a political prisoner earlier this year. “There are issues in these places that we’re going to, as there are around the world, but of course (the Middle East) seems to be deemed as the worst in this part of the world,” Hamilton said ahead of Sunday’s race, the first in a 10-year deal between F1 and Qatar.

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“I do think as these sports go to these places, they’re duty bound to raise awareness for these issues and (that) these places need scrutiny, need the media to speak,” the Briton added.

F1 will conclude its 2021 season with inaugural races in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where the series has raced since 2009. F1 has raced in Bahrain since 2004 and now has four stops in the Middle East on its calendar.

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Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been accused of “sportswashing” their human rights records by promoting the country through high-profile sporting tournaments. The FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar next year.

“Equal rights is a serious issue,” Hamilton said. “They are trying to make steps. It can’t change overnight. I heard there are things like a new reform with the “kafala” system that was (still) in place a couple of years ago.”

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“There’s a long way to go. I just feel that if we are coming to these places, we need to be raising the profile of the situation. I think we can still bring a spotlight to it and create that scrutiny and that pressure that could hopefully create change.”

Hamilton last year received personally addressed letters from three alleged Bahraini torture survivors as well as a hand-drawn photo of his Mercedes car from the young son of a Bahraini man on death row. 

With inputs from the Associated Press