Lewis Hamilton recalls ‘nerves’ before wearing Breonna Taylor shirt on podium

Lewis Hamilton has been unapologetically vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement (Picture: Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton has opened up about the nerves he felt before wearing a shirt emblazoned with Breonna Taylor’s name and her image on the before and after a race.

Last year, the Formula 1 legend wore a shirt that read: ‘Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor’.

Taylor, 26, died in March after being shot by police officers several times when they entered her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Hamilton explained that he knew he had to take the first place spot to wear the shirt, saying: ‘I can’t be second. I’m wearing that shirt; I’ve got to get to first to bring light to her name.’

The 36-year-old recalled to WSJ Magazine: ‘I get these nerves like, “Shoot, I’m about to break the rules and people aren’t going to be happy with it.”‘

While Hamilton received a lot of support, Formula 1 later changed the rules about what drivers can wear on the podium, with Lewis adding: ‘Well, they’ve changed a lot of rules after a lot of things that I’ve done.’

Taylor died after being shot by police officers several times (Picture: prettyn_paidd/Twitter)

Before the race, Hamilton posed in the t-shirt for an Instagram post and said in the caption: ‘It’s been 6 months since Breonna Taylor was murdered by policemen, in her own home. Still no justice has been served. We won’t stay silent. #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor.’ 

Hamilton has been vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement, also enlisting lyricist and spoken word artist George The Poet to write a poem so that he could print one line on each T-shirt over the course of October for Black History Month this year.

Hamilton features in the new issue of WSJ magazine (Picture: WSJ. MAGAZINE)

Announcing the heartfelt gesture, the 36-year-old wrote in an Instagram post: ‘To mark Black History Month, I wanted to share you on a project I’ve been working on with a talented group of artists since the beginning of the season… 

More: Lewis Hamilton

‘@georgethepoet and I wrote a poem that invites open mindedness in respecting the experience of others. Each race weekend, I’ve been wearing a line of the poem on a tee designed by a rising artist of colour.’  

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