I was silenced by Kaepernick: Hamilton reveals regret for protest.

lewis hamilton revealed his regret for not taking a more public stand against racism after being warned about it several years ago.

On Sunday, at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, Formula 1 became the first international sporting event where entrants took a knee, although six of the drivers opted out. Hamilton spent a difficult afternoon at the Red Bull Ring, finishing fourth after being relegated from second place following a collision with Red Bull's Alexander Albon and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas winning the race.

But while Hamilton refused to criticize the decision of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Räikkönen, Daniil Kvyat, Carlos Sainz and Antonio Giovinazzi, the sixth champion admitted he was inspired to speak out against racism when former NFL player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling in protest in 2016.

“I thought that was a very powerful statement,” said Hamilton. “Then he lost his job and he was a great athlete. I spoke to him a few years ago shortly after for the US GP. I had a helmet made in red for his top with his number on it, but at the time I was kind of muted. I was told to back off and 'Not support him' which I regret. So it's important to me that during that time I did my part.”

Hamilton expressed his disappointment on Saturday that some drivers had not come forward to condemn racism. As had been planned, however, everyone on the grid wore “End Racism” T-shirts, except Hamilton, who wore a Black Lives Matter shirt. There was no consensus on who chose the knee and Hamilton revealed that he had not requested any drivers and respected their decisions.

“I said, 'I'll do it, but you do what you think is right,'” he said. “I am so grateful for those who have knelt with me. I think it's a powerful message, but it's not going to change the world. It's a much, much bigger issue across the world, everyone had the right to make their own choice and to me it felt right. ”

The 35-year-old did not specify whether he would do so again at the race next weekend – also in Austria – but had no doubt he would maintain his strong support for equality.

“All we do is not enough, we all need to do more,” he said. "There's been awareness for a few weeks now and what we don't need is for him to quietly die and disappear."