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Ever since Lewis Hamilton announced his departure from Mercedes at the end of 2024, the relationship between his fanbase and the team has not been the best. On several occasions, the seven-time world champion's followers felt that he was being sabotaged by the Silver Arrows.
The rift between his fanbase and the team started at the beginning of the season and peaked at the Canadian GP, where several incidents enraged Hamilton fans.
Here is a chronological account of how Mercedes made Lewis Hamilton's followers angry during the Canadian GP.
#1 Tire strategy which gave George Russell the edge over Lewis Hamilton
At the 2024 F1 Canadian GP, George Russell started the race from the pole position while Hamilton started from seventh. Despite his position, Hamilton was making decent ground in the race and caught up to the leaders. In the latter stages of the Grand Prix, both drivers pitted under a safety car period. Hamilton was surprisingly offered hard tires while Russell received fresh medium tires.
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Since it is more difficult to heat the hard tires to the optimal window, Hamilton was passed by Russell a few laps before the chequered flag, snatching the last podium place away from him.
When Mercedes posted the race results, many fans were enraged and questioned Mercedes' strategy to put Hamilton on hards.
#2 Toto Wolff's radio message met with Lewis Hamilton's silence
Following the Canadian GP, F1's official account shared Hamilton's on-board footage where Toto Wolff spoke to him on the radio. The Mercedes honcho mentioned that the W15 had more performance and urged the seven-time world champion to see that as a positive.
"Lewis, the positive is the car is back in performance and we get on from here."
In response to this, Hamilton said nothing and simply sat in the cockpit in silence. Many fans reacted to this clip on X and talked about how they do not blame him for being silent. They started claiming that the Silver Arrows were only favoring one driver.
#3 Qualifying tire temperature comment by Lewis Hamilton
Going into the 2024 F1 Canadian GP, Lewis Hamilton was upbeat about the race weekend. He performed well in all three practice sessions and also felt his fighting spirit reignite. However, his pace plummeted during the qualifying session. He only managed to qualify P7 for the Grand Prix.
Though Hamilton's pace was strong in the main race, he was overtaken by Russell in the final moments of the race, whose fresh medium tires helped him.
Speaking to F1.com after the race, Hamilton revealed what hampered his pace during qualifying. He said that, for some unknown reason, his tires were below the optimal temperature. He added that every set of tires was two to three degrees colder.
#4 Lewis Hamilton fans raiding Mercedes LinkedIn account
Hamilton fans were extremely outraged after Mercedes' allegedly questionable strategy at the 2024 F1 Canadian GP. They continued to criticize the team on social media platforms like X, Instagram and Facebook and even raided Mercedes F1's official LinkedIn account.
Since the team posts all their marketing pictures and videos on LinkedIn as well, many flocked to their official feed and discussed how the team was allegedly sabotaging Hamilton.
#5 Mercedes not posting how Lewis Hamilton is the longest-standing British F1 driver
A few days ago, Lewis Hamilton surpassed former F1 world champion Jenson Button as the British driver with the longest F1 career. While Button raced actively for 17 years, 2 months and 16 days, Hamilton surpassed it with his 17 years, 2 months and 22 days after the Canadian GP.
Jenson Button himself posted about this on his official Instagram account's story, congratulating Hamilton. Thus, fans took to X and talked about how Hamilton's team, Mercedes, failed to post this milestone.
#6 Post about the first trophy for Mercedes
Another major uproar took place when Mercedes's official X account celebrated George Russell's first podium finish at the Canadian GP. They posted a picture of the trophy and stated that it was their first silverware of the year. However, this was, in fact, the team's second trophy since Lewis Hamilton secured second place in the 2024 F1 Chinese GP sprint race not too long ago.
Several fans flocked to the post and criticized the team for not counting Hamilton's sprint race honor.
#7 Mercedes unfollowing various Lewis Hamilton fan accounts
In the aftermath of the 2024 F1 Canadian GP, Mercedes F1's social accounts started unfollowing Lewis Hamilton fan accounts on X. A few fan accounts posted how the team's official account had stopped following them.
This caused the rift between the seven-time world champion's fanbase and the team's social accounts to increase.
#8 Mercedes apologizing for their first trophy post
After accidentally mentioning Russell's Canadian GP trophy as the team's first this year, Mercedes' official X account reposted the picture and apologized for the mistake. They mentioned that all trophies, including Sprint and Grand Prix ones, are special to them. They also thanked the fans for pointing out the mistake.
