Magnussen explains U-turn over taking the knee at F1 races

Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen has explained his reasons for why he opted not to take ‘the knee’ at the British Grand Prix, having done so in the first three races of 2020.

Formula 1 and the sporting world has come together in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-racism in general since George Floyd's death in the United States in May.

'Taking the knee' has been a common occurrence in sports around the world with footballers doing it before kick-off in every fixture.

14 of the 20 F1 drivers kneeled prior to the opening three rounds of the season, but at last weekend’s British GP, Magnussen opted against doing so - reducing that number to 13 drivers.

When explaining his reasoning for his u-turn, Magnussen explained he wants to "separate" himself from political messaging.

"I think in terms of standing or kneeling, I want to make sure I am with the messaging of ending racism and that I support that movement and not any sort of political organisation that I think the Black Lives Matter movement is," he said. 

"So I want to separate myself from that and then push on with ending racism and that messaging - which I think is great that Formula 1 is doing and all the drivers are supporting. I'm just trying to do that, and that's what I said before the second Austrian Grand Prix, let's do what we continue to do."

Following his win last weekend, reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton expressed his hopes of every driver potentially taking ‘the knee’ in the future.

"I am not going to tell you what my opinion is on whether or not needs to or not but if you look at all of the other sports," Hamilton said. "Look at basketball, look at football. Spanish teams, Italian teams, teams all over the world - no matter what nationality or mixture they are, they’re all doing it unitedly. And you’ve got players that for sure who’ve been from Russia, been from Spain and so I think it’s a work in progress.

"When the reasoning for perhaps not doing it is how it would be perceived in your country - all you’d have to do is to look at other sports as they are doing it. I do hope, bit by bit, we can come more and more together and become more united."