Formula One boss Chase Carey countered questions about his sport's record on human rights on Tuesday by saying it represented a "force for good."
Last week, Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton urged F1 to do more, saying human rights issues were a "massive problem" in some of the countries the sport visited.
"I don't think we have a massive problem, I think actually sports have a unique opportunity to be a force for good," Carey told CNN Sport ahead of Sunday's penultimate race of the season in Bahrain.
"Sports in some ways have uniquely -- over time -- crossed borders, crossed cultures and brought people from different places together," added the chief executive.