Mercedes refutes claims that Lewis Hamilton left his third-place trophy at the FIA Gala

Mercedes has denied claims that Lewis Hamilton left his third-place trophy at the FIA gala on December 9 in Baku.

There have been reports swirling throughout the day that the seven-time world champion left his trophy, which he got for finishing P3 in the Drivers' Championship, at the FIA gala as a sign of protest against the governing body.

The British driver publicly criticized FIA for how they handled and conducted an investigation allegedly against Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Wolff last week.

After getting the trophy during the prize, it was claimed that Lewis Hamilton had left the venue without it as a sign of protest, and that he had 'gifted' it to a fan present. Mercedes later clarified the news in a statement and said (via PlanetF1):

"Immediately after leaving the stage, and as has been done at previous prizegivings, Lewis accepted the offer from officials for the trophy to be sent on to the team and therefore left it in their care. We can confirm he did not give the trophy to anyone ‘as a gift’ as has been speculated."

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Lewis Hamilton hopeful of W15 ahead of 2024 season

Lewis Hamilton stated that he had recently been to the factory and seen the W15 in the wind tunnel, calling the winter break an "exciting time of the year."

Speaking with Motorsport.com, the Mercedes driver said:

"I think it's always difficult. I'm not an engineer or a designer. So it's not easy. It's always the exciting time of the year because I have seen the car in the wind tunnel, I always go by the wind tunnel when I go to the factory, to see it evolving in whichever direction it ends up going."

"Literally when I was leaving yesterday again I popped in just to see where we were, and when I come back, it will be again a different animal. I have full faith in everyone that's working on it. And I'm hopeful that we will be in a much more competitive position next year," he added.

Hamilton also said:

"I was at the team yesterday just thanking everyone for the amazing work they've done throughout the year. It's a special time of the year, you’re winding down and you're seeing where we're going next."

It will be interesting to see if Mercedes can develop a more competitive car in the 2024 season so that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell can fight for race wins and championships once again.