One of the fan accounts of Lewis Hamilton, @centurionlewis on Twitter, faked the death of its handler to gain attention on the internet. The fan account announced the death of Liam, its alleged handler, on August 3, but Liam is alive and well and is believed to be a 28-year-old man from Ipswich. The alleged admin of the account also falsely claimed to have terminal cancer to gain sympathy from the fans.
Before the announcement of his alleged passing away, Liam allegedly secured tickets from Mercedes for a tour of their Brackley factory and also got tickets to the 2022 Hungarian GP costing nearly $3000. The falsity of this fan left others enraged, as using a sob story to benefit off teams will deprive people who deserve such wishes to be granted.
That Centurion Lewis situation is so unbelievably fucked up man. Imagine faking terminal cancer to just get a visit to an F1 team
— Andy 🤠 (@AndyGraham22) August 11, 2022
Another Twitter account, @CytrusF1, led the expose on @centurionlewis, stating that Liam was working as a hospital porter and not as a railroad worker, nor was he involved in the car crash. He also reminded people to be extra careful about whom to trust and what to believe on the internet.
This scandal has made the admin of the fan account public enemy no.1 on F1 Twitter, and every fan hopes Liam is brought to justice for his vile and twisted actions. Fans will now be extra careful when they come across a story like centurionlewis’s the next time around.
The outcome of the controversy
While the incident caused a stir on social media, it also raised questions about the level of due diligence that Mercedes F1 carried out before offering VIP treatment to the fan. Fans criticized the team for not verifying the fan’s claims of cancer and death, as well as for not checking his employment status and other details. This lack of basic due diligence left many fans disappointed and raised concerns about the team’s procedures for vetting fans and offering VIP treatment.
That CenturionLewis guy legit played a whole ass F1 Team into giving him a your factory. What a vile mf
— davido 🐧 (@davidowashere) August 11, 2022
The incident also sparked debate among fans about the responsibility of teams and athletes to vet their fans and followers on social media. Some argued that teams and athletes had a responsibility to ensure that their fans were legitimate and that they were not being taken advantage of.
Others argued that it was not the responsibility of teams and athletes to vet their fans and that fans should be responsible for their actions and claims on social media. Regardless of where one fell on this debate, it was clear that incidents like this could have a serious impact on the reputation of teams and athletes like Lewis Hamilton.
The fact that a fan was able to con Mercedes F1 out of VIP treatment and tickets for the Hungarian Grand Prix using the name of Lewis Hamilton name raised serious questions about the team’s reputation and credibility, as well as its ability to provide a safe and secure environment for fans.
In the wake of the incident, many fans called on Mercedes F1 to review its procedures for vetting fans and offering VIP treatment. Some suggested that the team should require fans to provide proof of their claims before offering them VIP treatment or other perks, while others suggested that the team should work more closely with social media platforms to verify the identities of fans and followers.