racing pride

Aston Martin adds Pride Month rainbows to its F1 cars at French Grand Prix

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Aston Martin added rainbows to its F1 cars for Pride Month
(Photo: Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One)

For the first time in its Formula One history, iconic car maker Aston Martin marked Pride Month yesterday by placing rainbows on its F1 cars.

Its cars, driven by Germany’s Sebastian Vettel and Canada’s Lance Stroll, took part in the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard Circuit, Le Castellet, near Marseille.

One of those to tweet about it was Aston Martin Formula One team’s communications chief, Matt Bishop.

He said: “Today is a VERY good day. Why? Because 30-odd years ago I arrived in #F1 as ‘the only gay in the village’, branded ‘fat faggot’ by one of the drivers, & today the F1 team I work for has festooned its cars with #Pride logos. I’m not crying. You’re crying.”


Bishop’s tweet has had over 7.4k likes and hundreds of re-tweets.

Bishop began his motorsport career 30 years ago as the editor of F1 magazine and says attitudes within the sport toward gay people were very different back then. Now, he told Queerty, “The world is ready for major sports brands to embrace diversity and inclusion initiatives, and Formula One itself is actively pushing the same via its #WeRaceAsOne program.”

Related: Gay dad has the best reaction to son qualifying for Tokyo Olympics

(Photo: Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One)

The Aston Martin Formula One team is sponsored by the US company, Cognizant, which also tweeted its support.

Its CEO, Brian Humphries, said in a LinkedIn post: “Cognizant proudly joins the global celebration of the #LGBTQ+ community’s progress as well as the call to action to drive greater inclusiveness and remove remaining barriers to fairness and justice.

“We all count. We all deserve respect. We’re all connected.”

(Photo: Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One)

As part of its Pride Month initiative, the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One team also partnered with Racing Pride, a non-profit organization which promotes LGBTQ inclusion in motorsport.

Vettel and Stroll came in 9th and 10th at yesterday’s French Grand Prix respectively. The race was won by Belgian-Dutch driver Max Verstappen for Red Bull.

Related: WATCH: Sports commentator pulled off air mid-game after using anti-gay slur