“As I said at the last race, I feel that the sport and we are duty bound to make sure that we try to help raise awareness for certain issues that we see, particularly human rights, in these countries that we’re going to,” he said. “With the utmost respect for everyone that’s here, I’ve so far had a warm welcome from the people on the ground.
“I can’t pretend to be the most knowledgeable or have the deepest understanding of someone that, particularly, has grown up in the community here that is heavily affected by certain rules and the regime.
“Do I feel comfortable here? I [wouldn’t] say I do. But it’s not my choice to be here. The sport has taken a choice to be here.
“Whether it’s right or wrong, I think whilst we are here, again, I feel like it’s important that we do try to raise awareness. So in the last race, for example, you saw the helmet that I wore. I will wear that again here and in the next race because that is an issue and is a law.”