Lewis Hamilton praises Ralf Schumacher after former F1 driver publicly identifies as gay

(CNN) — Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has praised Ralf Schumacher after the former F1 driver revealed on Monday that he was in a same-sex relationship.

Schumacher, the younger brother of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, posted a picture with his partner on Instagram, who was later named as Etienne by German actress Carmen Geiss, a close friend of Schumacher’s.

“The most beautiful thing in life is when you have the right partner by your side with whom you can share everything,” Schumacher wrote on Instagram.

He was previously married to Cora Schumacher and is the father to a son, David.

The 49-year-old had an 11-year F1 career, driving for Jordan, Williams and Toyota and won six races along the way. He is only the second Formula One driver to identify as gay, with Hamilton saying that Schumacher’s announcement sends a “positive message.”

“I think clearly he’s not felt comfortable being able to say it in the past and it’s definitely not a new thing, but I think it just shows that we are in a time that finally you can take that step and don’t have to fear,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, via Sky Sports.

“Even him taking that step sends such a positive message and liberates others to be able to do the same. We need more and more people to do that.”

Hamilton has long been a defender of LGBTQ rights and has received praise for donning a helmet featuring the Pride flag at several races, including at the Qatar and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix.

The Mercedes driver spoke about the need for F1 to “do more” in order to make the sport more inclusive following Schumacher’s announcement.

“Within sports, I think it still has a long way to go,” said the 39-year-old. “There is one thing saying that it’s inclusive and there’s another thing actually making sure that people actually feel comfortable in the environments.

“This is a male-dominated space and, as far as I know, he’s one of the first to at least publicly be speaking in that respect. We are very inclusive within our team, but I think the sport does need to continue to do more to probably make people feel more comfortable, make women feel more welcome in this space because I know they’ve not always been treated well in this space.”

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