Oh boy Lewis. Honestly when you look at your remarks in the cold light of day you’ll cringe and what’s more your future in the sport might now be in peril. That might seem way over the top for what might be seen in some quarters as a jokey remark but it was clear from his tone that he wasn’t joking. He fully believes that he has been unfairly targeted by the F1 stewards because he isn’t white and not because he’s a thug on the race track who believes he has the right to barge people out of the way.
Speaking to BBC F1’s Lee McKensie after the race the McLaren driver fumed, “It’s an absolute frickin’ joke.”
“I’ve been to see the stewards five times out of six this season.”
When Lee McKensie pressed Hamilton on why he felt the stewards were picking on him, the McLaren driver retorted: “Maybe it’s because I’m black.”
Hamilton then added, as if to make light of his previous remark: “That’s what Ali G says.”
You can watch the interview in full on the BBC Sport website
Now I know it is one remark but what is clear to me is that Hamilton has brought the sport into disrepute. He has openly not just criticised the team (which many drivers do) but has openly questioned whether the sport is played on a level playing field and that if you aren’t part of the in club then you aren’t excepted. This seems unlikely considering how many different drivers have raced in F1 from all matter of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds and no-one to my knowledge has ever hinted at racism in the sport.
On the BBC F1 broadcast both commentators Martin Brundle and David Coulthard believed both incidents in today’s race were worthy of penalties. Once the bar had been set when Paul Di Resta decided that the car in front should be used as a brake at the hairpin then it seemed relatively obvious that his two incidents were worthy of penalties too. Many other drivers have seen penalties this season for causing an avoidable accident.
Lewis Hamilton has always come across as a bit of a baby when things don’t go his way but to drop in a hint of racism is inexcusable even in the heat of the moment. An apology better be swift or Lewis may well find himself not being allowed to race for a weekend and that would seriously piss him off. He has been nurtured at McLaren since pre-teenage years but they don’t seem to have been able to teach him how to deal with the media. He is fast becoming the biggest whiner on the grid and considering some of the other drivers on the said grid then that is quite an achievement.
No doubt nothing major will happen to him but at some point McLaren will think that the talent they are getting is not worth the hassle and the FIA themselves may not tolerate too much more of this kind of behaviour.
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Really? White man’s world?
You black people perpetuate racism. Every time someone say “is it because I is black” it is meant as a tongue0in0cheek joke. Many “white” people also say the phrase when they feel they are perhaps being discriminated against. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE, just that they FEEL it.
Calling myself Black or White, and using Caps, forces the other parties to have to pigeon-hole themselves into choosing a colour. I am pink, I bleed red, so does my sister inlaw, my niece and my nephew. THe colout of our skin make NO difference to me, but everytime someone talks about their “colour”, it forces everyone else to become racist as well. Stop it.
Furthure more, as a black man myself, I have fallen victim to countless acts of racism by Asians and whites in the 24 years I’ve been on earth. And to make matters worse, when a black person stands up and call it as it is, non blacks laugh and say “..yh sure. You people always cry racism”. Lewis is the best. If he were white they would be comparing him more to Senna. But it’s a white mans world so I guess he just have to put up with rediculas FIA penalties.
@ Rob
Are you intentionally refusing to acknowledge WHY he cried out about raism in F1? No one is saying it’s because the sport is dominated by white Europeans and white latinos. They are saying the stewards are blatantly racist and it you don’t have to a scientist to notice it.
How can you say that because there are not many black people in f1 that it’s racist!! Wtf!!! So because pretty much all 100m sprit runner are black does it make that sport racist against whites?? No it’s because white people are generally no good at it! Had you thought maybe the same applies here?!?
yes, i think the sport is racist and it is blatant racism against lewis,
I cant say i blame him from feeling this way as he finds it difficult identifying with other persons of colour associated with F1. I have been watching F1 for many years and from a spectators point of view i find this sport very discriminative. OK put it this way aside from Mark Webbers personal trainer known as roger where are the personnel of colour. So yes in my eyes the sport is very choosy who they employ and has been this way for many a years and long will this discrimination continue. When you consider this to be an international sport performing all around the world they have an awful amount of catching up to do.
Keep up the good work lewis……..
So you don’t count driver Narain Karthikeyan? He doesn’t look white to me also plenty of Latin drivers have been in F1 and still are so. They aren’t white. F1 is not racist and the best will rise to the top. The problem is many in F1 have raced their whole lives and the problem is funding. There are many more rich white kids on this Earth than there are rick non-white ones…
I cant say i blame him from feeling this way as he finds it difficult identifying with other persons of colour associated with F1. I have been watching F1 for many years and from a spectators point of view i find this sport very discriminative. OK put it this way aside from Mark Webbers personal trainer known as roger where are the personnel of colour. So yes in my eyes the sport is very racist and has been this way for many a years and long will this discrimination continue. When you consider this to be an international sport performing all around the world they have an awful amount of catching up to do.
Keep up the good work lewis……..
This kind of behaviour has been going on for a number of races now.
Mr Hamilton seems to think he is above the laws of the sport in which he participates, and it speaks volumes about his character if, when questioned about the reasons for his poor disciplinary record, the first thing to spring to mind is the colour of his skin,Joke or not!
I Have been watching F1 For some time and it was only a matter of time for Lewis to be brave enough to state the fact.
Its actually a problem across the board.The BBC Comments like an aggressive driver,Sorry mate its your fault,etc.
Joseph: Do you honestly think a sport that has welcome people from so many background and ethnicities have an issue with Lewis Hamilton?
Adam: Agree totally. He is an aggressive driver but aggression and being a thug aren’t too far apart. If you aren’t at least alongside someone when you try and overtake and there’s a collision – the guy doing the overtaking is generally at fault.