Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes looks on in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 10, 2022, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
In a long F1 career, Lewis Hamilton has faced several controversies. Though he has been a fan-favorite for raising his voice against several world issues and is considered to be one of the greatest drivers, he too has been occasionally under scrutiny for some of his actions.
With Hamilton having one of the largest fanbases that stretches beyond F1, his controversies never die down. Here are some of the times when the seven-time world champion was criticized and scrutinized by fans and the media alike.
A look at Lewis Hamilton’s most controversial moments
#1 Driver License suspension
Even though F1 drivers are extremely talented at handling cars at high speeds, it does not mean that they can do so on public roads with any car. After Lewis Hamilton finished his rookie year in the sport, he was caught speeding in the north of France. The Briton went over 121 mph and was apprehended by the police. Although Hamilton was ‘very polite and cooperative’ with the authorities, his license was suspended for a month.
#2 Disqualified from 2009 F1 Malaysian GP for tricking the stewards
At the 2009 F1 Australian GP, the safety car period saw Lewis Hamilton pass Jarno Trulli after the latter slid off the track by mistake. Under the same safety car period, the Italian caught up with the pack and passed Hamilton to reclaim his position in the race. After the race, however, the Briton told the media that McLaren didn’t instruct him to slow down and let Trulli pass.
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This put the blame on Trulli and he was demoted to 12th place in the race results. During the 2009 F1 Malaysian GP, however, McLaren’s radio messages revealed that instructions were in fact given to Hamilton to let Trulli pass. Since both the team and the driver acted against the truth and tricked the stewards, the Briton was disqualified from the race and McLaren was handed a ban for three races.
#3 Fined for burnouts in 2010
When Lewis Hamilton was leaving the Albert Park circuit back in 2010, he performed some burnouts in his Mercedes-Benz AMG C63. Due to the existing ‘anti-hoon’ laws in Victoria, however, he was eventually fined £288. Later on, the Briton also apologized for his driving.
#4 Humorous Ali G joke that was misunderstood
In 2011, Lewis Hamilton had a tough season where he was called to the stewards multiple times. After colliding with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado in Monaco, the Briton was yet again called upon by the stewards. In a mixture of anger and sarcasm, the Briton passed on a humorous joke from film character Ali G about being black.
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Despite being a joke, his statement resulted in yet another trip to the stewards, where he had to explain his actions to avoid any further punishment.
#5 Leaking team telemetry data
Lewis Hamilton is quite active on several social media platforms. He, however, made a blunder by posting important telemetry data about his McLaren team. During the 2012 F1 Belgian GP, he tweeted a picture of a screen that showed lap times and spoke about how his rear wing was slowing him down in the straights. Apart from lap times, the screen also showed several sensitive data about McLaren such as ride height, braking rates, acceleration rates, and much more.
Though the post was quickly taken down by Hamilton, a lot of the data was already leaked.
#6 Car crash in Monaco in 2015
After winning his third world title at the 2015 F1 US GP, Lewis Hamilton went on to spend his break in Monaco, where he lost control of his £1.5 million Pagani Zonda and crashed into three parked cars. He was found not to be under the influence of alcohol, with police explaining how the Briton’s foot slipped from the brake and the clutch pedals.
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Later on, in the 2015 F1 Brazilian GP, Hamilton also explained how the incident happened due to lack of sleep and an accompanying fever.
#7 Selfie on a motorcycle
Back in 2016, before the F1 Australian GP, Hamilton was investigated by New Zealand police for riding a Harley Davidson whilst recording himself on his phone. Since the video was posted on his Snapchat account and went against New Zealand’s road law, he was apprehended and reprimanded.
No further action was taken against him due to insufficient evidence, but the police let him go with a warning for the future.
#8 Criticism by PETA
Even though Lewis Hamilton has been an animal lover for quite some time, one of his innocent actions was taken quite seriously by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). When the Briton visited the Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation in Mexico, he posted pictures and videos of him playing with a white tiger.
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Though the pictures and videos were quite innocent and harmless, Elisa Allen, PETA’s director at the time, released a statement criticizing the driver and how these endangered big cats should not be used for entertainment and photo shoots.
#9 Snapchat picture controversy
Ahead of the 2016 F1 Japanese GP, Lewis Hamilton humorously posted a Snapchat picture of himself sitting beside Carlos Sainz, captioning how the press conference was quite annoying. Later on, he explained how he was only taking jabs at the format of the press conference, rather than insulting the media groups themselves.
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Though the news of the incident could’ve died, Hamilton brought it up once again after the qualifying session. Hamilton made a statement, blaming certain journalists for being disrespectful in mentioning the Snapchat incident in their reports.
