Amidst claims of favouritism, Lewis Hamilton has asked fans to support his teammate George Russell.
Lewis Hamilton states that Mercedes F1 can always improve how it works with its drivers, but George Russell “cannot be criticised at all” after the team’s treatment of both men was closely scrutinised on social media.
Following the Monaco qualifiers, Hamilton mentioned he believed it unlikely he would outperform Russell at any point this season, without detailing why. Russell then took pole position in Canada while Hamilton experienced a surprising lack of performance in Q3, having been faster earlier in the weekend. Afterwards, the seven-time world champion questioned his tyre preparation choice.
“If I set the right conditions, I will achieve better results at some point,” he had said.
However, recent social media posts from some Mercedes F1 fans have questioned the team’s treatment of the 39-year-old driver compared to Russell. This perceived favouritism has displeased Hamilton’s fans, who have started to attack the team and Russell.
One fan even accused the team of sabotaging Hamilton’s settings, a claim that has since been echoed repeatedly and spoiled many F1 discussions on social media (including ours).
Hamilton says he wants to see more support from fans, particularly for his teammate.
“Know that, over the years, we have always been a solid team, we have always worked very hard together. I think it’s easy to become emotional – I even commented at the last race, for example, about how I had flaws.”
“We need support, not negativity. I wasn’t really aware that George was experiencing any negativity. George has just been doing his best every weekend and has been up to the mark for the team, so nothing can be faulted at all.”
“Of course, there are always things that can be improved within a team and it goes through conversations, through communication, and that’s what we are constantly working on. But we are all in the same boat – we are all working hard together and we all want to end on a high note. We owe it to our long-term relationship.”
For his part, Russell says he generally avoids social media to dodge negative comments, but thinks fans should try to support any driver or team sharing content more.
“Personally, I don’t look at Instagram or Twitter, to be honest. I haven’t seen these messages against the team or against me since Canada. I always control my own account, so I work with my team and all content that comes out is vetted by me, and all the captions, everything, it’s my message.”
“But I think social media is really a double-edged sword. There are so many fun things you see on social media, and it allows you to stay up to date on so many things, but on the other hand, it’s not just me but everyone who is in the spotlight, and there seems to be negativity directed towards us.”
“As Lewis said, you want to feel the support, not convey negativity to others. It’s not something I’ve seen, I haven’t heard about it. Of course, it’s never nice to hear this kind of thing, but unfortunately, it’s the world we live in right now and it’s what anyone in the spotlight faces.”
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Fans Allege Sabotage as Hamilton Backs Russell. Fans Allege Sabotage as Hamilton Backs Russell
