Kvyat explains why he refused to kneel

Daniil Kvyat

(GMM) Daniil Kvyat has explained why he refused to kneel on the grid last weekend in Austria.

In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Lewis Hamilton and 13 other Formula 1 drivers followed the trend started by former NRL star Colin Kaepernick in 2016.

Russian Kvyat was among six drivers who remained standing.

"When they suggested kneeling as a gesture of the fight against racism, it was a little incomprehensible to me," he told the Russian broadcaster 1TV.

"Why? Because it is a little against my Russian mentality, where you kneel for your homeland, for your flag, for God," Kvyat, who drives for Alpha Tauri, added.

"But all of the drivers are united in the fight against racism," he insists. "We showed our position by wearing a t-shirt with the words 'End Racism' on it before the race."

This is convicted terrorist Susan Rosenberg, she sits on the Board of Directors for the fundraising arm of Black Lives Matter. She was convicted for the 1983 bombing of the United States Capitol Building, the U.S. Naval War College and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. She was released from prison after serving 16 years of her 58-year prison sentence when Bill Clinton commuted her sentence on his last day in office.