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."
