Lewis Hamilton was given the third-place trophy at the FIA prize giving ceremony on Saturday and Mercedes have issued a statement in response to claims he gave the award to a fan
Mercedes have been forced to deny claims Lewis Hamilton gave away his third-place trophy to a fan at the FIA’s annual prize giving gala in Azerbaijan.
The top three drivers in Formula 1 are required to attend the race, and Hamilton finished third this season behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. To pick up his award, Hamilton flew to Baku.
The 38-year-old driver picked up his trophy first on stage at the gala, but afterward, there was some controversy when a fan who had also attended claimed on social media that Hamilton had given him the award.
The fan, who had previously posted pictures of them alongside Verstappen at the event, shared a snap of the trophy seemingly on display in their home. “Hello. I was at the Gala yesterday. Lewis Hamilton gave me the award and left. I have the prize at home now,” they wrote.
However, Mercedes have disputed this, claiming Hamilton left the award with officials. In a statement, they said: “Just to clarify some of the speculation on social media regarding Lewis’ P3 trophy.
“Immediately after leaving the stage, and as has been done at previous prize-givings, 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.”
Hamilton also hit out at the FIA while at the gala, criticising their “unacceptable” investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff. The FIA briefly investigated claims of a “conflict of interest” between the pair, with Toto Mercedes’ team principal and Susie the managing director of the F1 academy.
The investigation was immediately dropped after the wide range of various F1 groups denied submitting a question, however Hamilton isn’t content with the manner in which the FIA took care of things. “Frustrating to see the administering body scrutinizing the uprightness of quite possibly of the most staggering female pioneer we’ve had in our game, without addressing, with practically no proof, then, at that point, trying to say sorry toward the end, that is simply unsuitable,” he smoldered.
“There is a steady battle to truly further develop variety and consideration inside the business, yet it appears there are sure people inside the initiative of the FIA that each time we make a forward-moving step they’re attempting to pull us back and that needs to change.”
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