SUMMARY
- F1 drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, actively engage on social media, fostering connections with fans.
- Hamilton's Twitter activity led to a public spat with teammate Jenson Button over perceived disrespect.
Since the dawn of social media, people and their favorite Formula 1 drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, have been online day in and day out. If one believes that checking stories and looking for updates on the lives of those we know is not something drivers do, they are wrong! Ironically, social media was the very same reason that caused a feud between Hamilton and his McLaren teammate, Jenson Button.
As Hamilton remains one of the most popular F1 drivers of all time, he has made himself comfortable on the digital platform while expressing his strong opinions. While the British driver was in his final days at the Woking-based team, he found himself in an awkward spot, forcing him to issue a public apology for Button. Hamilton had accused the fellow Briton and teammate of disrespecting him on Twitter (now X).
The strife between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton
The 39-year-old driver was then gearing up to leave McLaren for Mercedes at the conclusion of the 2012 campaign. But, Hamilton came across something which he believed that he needed to address. He came across a tweet, made by a journalist, hinting that Button had unfollowed him on the social media platform.
Just noticed @jensonbutton unfollowed,
thats a shame. After 3 years as teammates, I thought we respected one another but clearly he doesn’t.
+ Reply 17 Retweet~ Favorite 9,025
RETWEETS 1,354 FAVORITES
1:35 AM – 8 Oct 12 • Embed this Tweet
Reply to @LewisHamilton @JensonButton pic.twitter.com/RbhDMBhiQE— Erni (@beatsbyerni) September 29, 2021
Immediately after this, Hamilton wrote, “Just noticed @jensonbutton unfollowed, that’s a shame. After 3 years as teammates, I thought we respected one another but clearly, he doesn’t. Funny thing is, we are STILL teammates! All good tho, I plan on giving this team & fans all I got til I cross the finish line in Brazil!!!” However, there seemed to be an error.
This misstep led to a hasty follow-up tweet where he wrote, “My bad, just found out Jenson never followed me. Don’t blame him! Need to be on Twitter more!” While Hamilton soared to six world championships post-McLaren, Button retired in 2017 with one title to his name.
Button’s take on the 7x champion’s social media habits
Lewis Hamilton remains one of the most outspoken drivers on social media, never shying away from speaking his mind even if it leads to a few controversies. However, according to his former teammate, the driver would sometimes cross the line with his outspokenness. Button detailed many of these instances in his autobiography, “Jenson Button: Life to the Limit: My Autobiography”.
Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton visit McLaren’s famous Unit 2 back in 2010 🤩
𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 getting the chance to spend a day here.
🎥 McLaren#F1 pic.twitter.com/WhGWdXHHcb
— Crash F1 (@CRASH_NET_F1) January 25, 2022
According to the 44-year-old, one of Hamilton’s earliest controversial Twitter posts dates back to 2009. He gave away the details of a very specific incident that had happened when Hamilton took to Twitter to express frustration, writing, “Damn, ***!! Jenson has the new rear wing on. I have the old. We voted to change, didn’t work out. I lose 0.4 tenths just on the straight.”
This left Button utterly disappointed in his teammate and pointed out that it was Hamilton’s decision at the time to stick with the old rear wing. The former driver started to feel like he had become “collateral damage” amidst Hamilton’s controversies. Lately, Button cleared out the Briton’s name amidst a surprising Ferrari move.