Lewis Hamilton has had an illustrious career in Formula 1. Now in his 19th season of the sport, Hamilton has scored a record number of 105 wins, 202 podiums, and 104 poles. He also has a record-equalling seven world drivers’ championships. However, his career hasn’t been smooth sailing. The British driver has been the subject of many controversies, some on-track and some during his time away from an F1 car.
5. Lewis Hamilton gets fined for doing burnouts
After the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton made his mark on the ground. Driving his Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 after leaving the circuit in Melbourne, the Briton performed some burnouts. This violated “anti-hoon” laws in Victoria, causing the driver to be fined £288. His actions also led to outrage from the locals, with a politician calling Hamilton “a d—head” [via ESPN].
4. Hamilton sprayed a grid girl
On the podium of the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton’s champagne spraying got a little extreme. After he won the race, the Mercedes driver, like others who make it to the podium, opened up his bottle of champagne and started spraying it over everyone around him. He also directed the spray towards Liu Siying, a grid girl standing to his right. This move caused objections from anti-sexist groups, even though Siying shared that she was not affected by the actions of the race winner. Later, Hamilton said [via ESPN]:
“I would never ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that.”
3. Lewis Hamilton crashes his car in Monaco
A week and a half after he won the championship title in 2015, Lewis Hamilton crashed one of his cars in Monaco. Hamilton was piloting his special edition Pagani Zonda when he collided with three parked cars. The driver was not under the influence of alcohol, but instead, his foot slipped between the clutch and brake pedals of the Pagani. The Mercedes driver revealed later that a lack of sleep due to partying after his title win contributed to his error.
2. Hamilton leaked team data
After he qualified eighth at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2012, Lewis Hamilton wanted to explain the reason behind his result on his social media. His teammate Jenson Button had scored pole, and Hamilton believed that his rear wing was costing him time.
The British driver took a photograph of the telemetry data and posted it on his Twitter account. Apart from the lap times, the data he shared also revealed sensitive McLaren information like ride heights, braking, and acceleration rates. Later, Hamilton took the post down at the urging of the team.
1. Lewis Hamilton misled the stewards
The reason the British driver did this is that McLaren advised him to. However, after the race, Hamilton shared that he never received any instructions to give the place back. This caused the FIA to believe Trulli had illegally passed the defending champion, and he was demoted to P12.
During the closing laps of the 2009 season opener race in Australia, Lewis Hamilton passed the car of Jarno Trulli, which led to an eventual disqualification. Trulli was running in third behind the safety car when he slid off the road. Hamilton overtook him but eventually slowed down to give the other driver his P3 spot back.
At the following Malaysian GP, the case was reopened, and it was discovered through their radio messages that McLaren had instructed Hamilton to slow down. This reveal led to the Briton’s disqualification from the race, and the team received a three-race ban. This incident has been dubbed “liegate”.
