'Our brother was robbed' - Samuel L. Jackson blasts F1 for "railroading" Lewis Hamilton

Veteran Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson has weighed in on the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that saw Lewis Hamilton lose his bid to win a record-breaking eighth F1 world title.

In a statement posted on his Instagram story, the actor blasted F1 and the FIA for their botched handling of the safety car restart at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, claiming that it “robbed” the championship from Lewis Hamilton.

“For a full season. We watched Lewis compete with Max for this title fairly and aggressively. Max is an incredible driver. He deserved all his wins this season. But he did not win this championship.”

“Lewis. Our Brother. Was Robbed. For 57.5 laps. He dominated. Sometimes he even lead (sic) by 16 secs according to Red Bull’s own status cards.”

From the first race in Bahrain to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were inseparable on track in their battle for the 2021 F1 world championship. In most races, they would be at least a dozen seconds ahead of the rest of the grid while fighting each other closely.

Verstappen, who had a superior car in the first half of the season, managed to build up a healthy lead over Hamilton – despite falling victim to numerous instances of bad luck – heading into the summer break.

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, however, rebounded late in the season after taking a fresh engine at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and dominated three rounds before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Heading into Yas Marina, both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were level on points, although the former had more wins compared to the latter.

On race day, Hamilton instantly took the upper hand, expertly snatching the lead from Verstappen and building himself a healthy lead, with enough performance in hand to comfortably keep Verstappen and Red Bull at bay.

It looked as if Hamilton’s eighth world title was already in the bag. As Red Bull team principal Christian Horner put it, his driver needed a “miracle” to win the championship.

A late (and controversial) safety car restart gave Max Verstappen exactly that, which Verstappen expertly made use of to clinch his maiden world title, beating Lewis Hamilton.

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Samuel L. Jackson claims F1's rule changes unfairly targeted Lewis Hamilton

Samuel L. Jackson feels that despite F1’s recent push to be more inclusive and diverse, the FIA and F1’s rule changes always seem to target Lewis Hamilton in particular.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Jackson wrote:

“F1 has been on a campaign to bring in a wider and diverse audience. But somehow continues to railroad it's (sic) only black driver in the sport by making arbitrary last-minute rules that consistently contradicts (sic) the previous ones. These rule changes seem to specifically effect (sic) Lewis the most. F1. FIA may not do the right thing... And in that case. They deserve [to] lose us. Fans. In the process.”

Lewis Hamilton is arguably one of the greatest drivers in F1 history, with more records to his name than most drivers in the sport. For the majority of the turbo-hybrid era (which started in 2014), he and Mercedes have dominated F1, each winning six and eight F1 world titles respectively.

Some sections of the F1 community feel that F1’s rule changes for the 2021 season specifically and unfairly targeted Mercedes in an effort to reign in their dominance. Many fans, however, feel that most F1 drivers are capable of winning Grands Prix and fighting for championships, hence the sole team and driver winning every year renders F1 boring to watch, especially given Mercedes’ vast budget compared to other, smaller F1 teams.

For 2021, the FIA has introduced budget caps for teams that limit them from spending more than $145 million per (with some exclusions) to bring a semblance of equity between teams.

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