Sir Lewis Hamilton has been the most iconic face of F1 in recent times. He debuted in F1 driving for McLaren in 2007. Since then, he caught the media’s attention with his skill set and charm. But after almost coming close to two decades, the records speak for themselves. But the governing body, FIA, seems to have problems with him every now and then.
Other than being a great driver, Hamilton tries to take a stand against racism every chance he gets. Moreover, he is the only racer of color in the grid. But these protests generally do not sit well with FIA. Hence, they try to introduce new rules or find new ways to penalize Hamilton every chance they get. According to many fans and experts, that’s what happened in the sprint race in Spa last weekend.
Penalizing Hamilton Every Now And Then Might Not The Right Way
There was an incident on lap 6 of the sprint race in Belgium. Lewis Hamilton was chasing Sergio Perez for P4 when the Briton got a chance to overtake. However, when he came near Turn 14 and 15, he had a minor touch with Perez on the outside. But the damage was so bad that Sergio Perez had to retire after a few laps. That’s why the governing body gave Lewis Hamilton a five-seconds penalty. The seven-time champion had to drop to P7 from P4 after the race. After the race, F1 journalist Christian Hewgill talked about this incident on the podcast, The Fast And The Curious.
According to Hewgill, the sport is looking to capitalize on the popularity of its exciting personalities, social media presence, and also the Netflix show Drive To Survive. But regarding that theory, he cannot hide the irony of what actually happened in the sprint race. Moreover, Christian Hewgill states that F1 introduced sprint races to have more racing. That’s what Lewis Hamilton tried to show the fans and the viewers. But FIA penalized him for an overtaking maneuver. According to Hewgill, the governing body should stop doing that. Moreover, FIA should keep in mind that penalizing popular stars might lose some viewers interest.
Lewis Hamilton Believes He Can Give Max Verstappen A Hard Time If He Drove Checo’s Car
On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton stated after the Belgian Grand Prix that Max Verstappen is lucky not to have him as his teammate. According to Lewis Hamilton, Max would have a hard time if Hamilton drove Checo’s RB19. It would be a different result if Hamilton drove the same machinery. However, Red Bull Advisor, Helmut Marko, states that Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton could beat Max Verstappen but not with the same car. It would be incredibly tough for them to beat the Dutchman in the same machinery. However, nobody can deny the greatness of Lewis Hamilton.
Moreover, in 2020, Lewis Hamilton equaled the great Michael Schumacher’s record for seven driver’s world championships. Later, the seven-time world champion became the first driver to cross the 100 race wins mark. Even today, he has got the most race wins and most pole positions. Albeit, Hamilton has not yet added anything in 2023 to his win tally, he got a pole position in Hungary. Moreover, he got four podium finishes this season before the summer break. Undoubtedly, he is the most high-profile F1 driver currently on the grid.