"You freak": Former F1 champion Damon Hill replies to Elon Musk's post about the 'Iliad'

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill called out Elon Musk for suggesting people go through the audiobook of the epic 'The Odyssey' by Homer at 1.25x speed, instead of reading the text. The billionaire, who also owns the social media platform "X", formerly known as Twitter, has been known for his unconventional takes and opinions online.

The founder of Tesla and Space X is currently the richest man in the world with a net worth of $247.2 billion (as per "Forbes") and leads the list from Amazon's Jeff Bezos, LVMH's Bernard Arnault, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.

Recently he took his X account to rave about 'The Odyssey' by Homer, which tells the tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. Adding his advice on how to approach the Homeric epic, Musk wrote,

"Can’t recommend The Iliad enough! Best as a Penguin audiobook at 1.25 speed."

But his comments did not sit well with 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who, in reply to Musk's tweet, called him a 'freak' for his suggestion of listening to the audiobook of the epic. Hill wrote:

"Read it already. Twice. At normal speed. So I could really take it in. You freak."

The Williams F1 driver does not shy away from giving honest opinions on and off the track on various topics. The recent jibe at X owner has been the latest of his series of attacks on the billionaire on the platform.

Earlier, on August 19, Hill gave his scathing remarks on Musk's comments on the unrest caused by the communal riots in the UK recently. In a now-deleted post, the billionaire had allegedly posted an AI-generated video resembling the popular series Game of Thrones with some characters partying and Musk's caption reportedly conveying the idea that it was difficult to assess what was 'real'. Resharing the post, Damon Hill wrote:

"If Elon becomes the ruler of the free world (as well he could) it will be like living in one long episode of Game of Thrones, if it isn't already! So not far to go now."

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Damon Hill gives his take on Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari

Former world champion Damon Hill said that Lewis Hamilton might have underestimated Mercedes in his decision to leave the German team in favor of Ferrari for the 2025 season.

Speaking with "Top Gear" on 22nd August, Damon Hill said:

“He's had such an incredible time with Mercedes, and at the time he made the decision [to leave], I think he'd quite understandably thought that Mercedes had reached the buffers. But maybe he underestimated them because they are making a comeback and they could well be competitive,” Hill said.

“It would be sad if he moved to Ferrari and Ferrari weren’t competitive because it would mean that he will be denied that chance to get the eighth title which many people believe he should’ve had,” he added.

Lewis Hamilton will move to Ferrari on a multi-year deal from 2025 onwards to partner Charles Leclerc and race under the leadership of Frederic Vassuer once again after his F2 title bid in 2006 with ART.