5 times F1 was hit with racism controversies ft. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is the only black F1 world champion that the sport has seen. Although he is talented and will arguably go down as one of the greatest to ever drive an F1 car, there are challenges that he has had to endure off the grid when it comes to his ethnicity and what he represents.

The driver did his first official F1 race lap in 2007 in a McLaren and since then has been embroiled in racism controversies on and off where he has often been a victim of racial slurs and attacks on his ethnicity.

What's interesting to note is that all these incidents have come to light only after Hamilton came into the sport. It's like before him, we were unaware that such a situation could even exist in a sport like F1. Sadly though, the F1 world is not immune to this and has a lot of catching up to do.

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F1 racism controversies ft. Lewis Hamilton

#1 2008 F1 Spanish GP

One of the earlier racism incidents happened in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton was subjected to racial abuse by the Spanish crowd. During the race weekend, not only was the Briton abused by the crowd, there were members of the crowd wearing black faces and t-shirts with "Hamilton's family" written on them.

The context? In 2007, Hamilton was involved in an intense battle with Fernando Alonso. As the relationship imploded, the Spaniard left the competitive McLaren outfit for an uncompetitive Renault, which led to further angst from the Spanish fans.

Recently, Lewis Hamilton talked about how he felt when all of that happened, with the Mercedes driver saying:

“I remember the pain that I felt that day. I didn’t say anything about it, I didn’t have anyone. No one said anything, I saw people continuing in my industry and staying quiet.”

This was one of the earliest racial attacks that had surfaced in F1 during Hamilton's career.

#2 Post-2011 F1 Monaco GP

Lewis Hamilton hasn't always been on the right side of the racism controversies though. Early in his career, the Briton was involved in far too many incidents and was unable to put together a championship fight.

The 2011 F1 Monaco GP was one of those instances where Hamilton was involved in clashes with drivers like Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, and Pastor Maldonado due to which he received multiple penalties during the race, a trend that had carried forward from previous events.

Post-race, Lewis Hamilton was questioned as to why he felt he was subjected to these many penalties to which the Brit had replied, "Maybe because I'm black, that's what Ali G would say" and laughed off the question. The comments sparked a lot of controversy as the Briton was accused of playing "the race card" at the time, which did not go down well with anyone.

#3 Post-2021 F1 British GP

The 2021 F1 British GP was arguably the point where emotions boiled over in the championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The collision on the first lap, for which Hamilton was deemed the guilty party, threw Verstappen into the barriers and resulted in a horrific crash.

Hamilton ended up winning the race but his celebrations were considered to be in bad taste by the Red Bull crew as Verstappen was still getting checked out in the hospital. The incident divided the F1 social media and the Briton became the target of online racial abuse.

#4 Taking the knee in support of the BLM movement

During the pandemic, the George Floyd incident sparked a lot of controversy all over social media and the "Black Lives Matter" movement gained steam. In many other global sports, many players made it a point to take the knee in support of the BLM movement.

Lewis Hamilton, the only black driver in F1 at the time, made it a point to do the same before the race. Not only that, it was at this time that during pre-race engagements, a specific time slot was kept for drivers to take the knee in support of the movement and for solidarity in the sport.

When some drivers did not take the knee for personal reasons, it sparked social media outrage. Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen, who did not take the knee, were even termed 'racist' on social media and had to endure online abuse as well.

#5 Nelson Piquet using the "N-word" for Lewis Hamilton (November 2021)

Speaking about the most recent incident, Nelson Piquet used the "N-word" for Lewis Hamilton at the end of last season when discussing the clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 F1 British GP. The quote surfaced online recently and has taken social media by storm as many have come out in support of the British driver and against the insensitive comments made by Piquet.

There have even been reports that Nelson Piquet has been banned from the F1 paddock despite his apology to Hamilton. The seven-time champion too has aired his thoughts, claiming that due education and awareness are important as that is the only way such incidents will not resurface.