5 instances when Lewis Hamilton arguably didn't "behave like a world champion"

Lewis Hamilton caused a stir this race weekend when he claimed that Max Verstappen's conduct during the 2024 F1 Hungarian GP was not that of a world champion. For context, during the race in Hungary, Max had quite a few harsh words to say to his team on the radio.

He wasn't happy to cede position to Lando Norris early on in the race; he wasn't happy with Hamilton getting the undercut and jumping him on track twice either, and that led to a few tirades on the team radio. Hamilton was asked for his opinion on Verstappen's comments in Hungary to his team, to which the former said that the comments were not of a world champion and that the Red Bull driver should behave like one.

Commenting on the situation, Lewis said,

"You have to be a team leader, a team member. Maybe not such a team leader but just always remember you’re a team-mate with lots of people and you have to act like a World Champion.”

When questioned what he meant by 'act like a world champion', Hamilton said,

“That’s a good question! Not like it was last weekend.”

The thing is, Hamilton himself has perhaps been on the wrong side of 'not behaving like a champion' a few times in his career. Following his recent, it might be interesting to take a look at a few of the instances where, by Hamilton's definition, he arguably 'didn't behave like a champion'.

#1 "Lie-Gate" (2009 F1 Australian GP)

In the 2009 F1 Australian GP, Lewis Hamilton was caught lying to the stewards. The driver had misled the stewards and shared wrong information, which led to the driver getting disqualified from the race. When we talk about actions that are worthy of a world champion, this doesn't look to have fallen in that category.

#2 Hamilton shared team telemetry on social media (2012 F1 Belgian GP)

Lewis Hamilton was comprehensively outperformed by teammate Jenson Button at the 2012 F1 Belgian GP. Button ended up using a different configuration of wing and secured pole position for himself, while Lewis was a few positions behind.

Hamilton posted the telemetry of both drivers on social media after the race, to show where he was losing time compared to Button. However, the telemetry sheet also included other confidential data about the car that might have helped other teams figure out the details of the MP4-27's running.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner at the time declared that such an act from one of his drivers "would be a breach of confidentiality effectively." McLaren team principal at the time Martin Whitmarsh said of the incident, "I think he [Hamilton] made an error of judgment, and we asked him to take that one down and he did."

#3 Mercedes secret tire test (2013 F1 Monaco GP)

Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg were part of a secret, unsanctioned Pirelli tire test in 2013. During that time, no team could take part in any level of in-season testing. Therefore, Mercedes running a private test with the official tire manufacturer was a violation of the rules, although both Pirelli and Mercedes claimed information about the test had been communicated to the FIA.

Both Mercedes drivers took part in the test and wore black helmets instead of their trademark yellow helmets. Following complaints from Ferrari and Red Bull, Pirelli along with Mercedes and their drivers were given a reprimand, and it was just not a good look for for all parties involved.

#4 Team radio at the 2021 F1 Turkish GP

The 2021 F1 season saw Hamilton battle Verstappen in an intense title battle. During the race in Turkey, the Mercedes driver was pitted by the team at a very late juncture and it saw him lose a couple of places in the end. The driver had quite a few choice words on the team radio in an incident that had resonances with what happened with Verstappen in Hungary this season.

After the race, Hamilton continued to be at his defiant best, as he wrote on Instagram the next day,

"Don't ever expect me to be all polite and calm on the radio when I'm racing, we are all very passionate and in the heat of the moment that passion can come out, as it does for all drivers."

He added,

"My heart and spirit are out there on the track, it's the fire in me that's got me this far but any angst is quickly forgotten and we talked it through, already looking ahead to the next race."

It seems quite ironic now that for a similar incident, Lewis has seemingly called out his on-track competitor.

#5 Blaming Mercedes for not listening to his input during car designs (2023 F1 Bahrain GP)

Hamilton's comments about acting as a team leader and a team member are interesting, considering his words in the wake of the 2023 Bahrain GP. After finishing fifth in the season-opener, he had said that the team did not listen to him when it came to developing the car for that season, seemingly dissociating himself from the team.

He later added some context to his comments by saying, "I'm not always right, but I was right in this scenario. It's a team collaboration." Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had said in Bahrain after the race, "I don't think this package is going to be competitive eventually."

By Hamilton's recent publicly-stated standards, it's fair to say this is not something you'd expect from a 'world champion'.

Conclusion

The purpose of these instances is not to show Hamilton as saying one thing and doing otherwise, or to call out what he's said about Verstappen. It is similar, in fact, to a very simple thing that was once stated by F1 legend Sebastian Vettel. The German had claimed that if we fit a microphone next to a footballer, then you're not going to hear nice things from them during the 90 minutes of play.

The same applies here, and perhaps Verstappen's comments are in that vein of being in the heat of the moment and need to be understood as such. There is a sense therefore that parts of the F1 world are making a big deal about something that doesn't need to be, and we need to see these moments in context.