Lewis Hamilton is clearly one of the best drivers to drive in F1. He has won 7 Championships and holds the record for various stats including most wins, podiums, and pole positions. Hamilton narrowly lost out on a Championship in multiple scenarios. Serena Williams has taken to social media to defend the British driver.
Before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Toto Wolff spoke to the media where he mentioned that he wants to make Lewis Hamilton win his 8th Championship. Toto has a personal anger and drive to help Lewis in any means possible. ESPN F1 posted this on their Instagram page to which Serena Williams replied: “He should have had 9 already. But …. Lemme be quiet.”
Miss Serena Williams?? I was unfamiliar!! 😳 pic.twitter.com/GxMWkCuNg2
— deni (@fiagirly) November 20, 2023
Back in 2021, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were intensely fighting for the Championship. At the time, Lewis was looking to break Schumacher’s record by winning 8 titles. On the other hand, Max Verstappen was trying to get his first. After fighting with each other on the track, the 2 drivers came to the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi level on points.
In the race, Lewis Hamilton took the lead of the race at built over a 10-second gap to Max Verstappen behind. However, the safety car was deployed with 5 laps remaining. The FIA race director, Michael Masi ended the safety car period with 1 lap remaining. However, he did not follow the proper procedures before doing so. This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake Lewis Hamilton in the final lap with fresher tires.
Following this incident, Toto Wolff and the rest of the Mercedes team were enraged and demanded that they reinstate the lap prior to the final lap. However, the regulations do not allow so. Michael Masi stepped down from his position as Race Director after this.
Lewis Hamilton at risk of losing his first Championship as Felipe Massa’s case progresses
Earlier this year, Felipe Massa filed a lawsuit against the FIA and FOM. He claims that F1 knew about crashgate happening during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and the FIA and FOM did nothing to prevent it. These allegations came after Bernie Ecclestone, who was the CEO of F1 at the time, claimed that he knew about crashgate before it was discovered.
During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Renault instructed one of their drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash his car so Fernando Alonso who was driving in the other Renault would have the chance to win the race, which he did. Later, after Nelson Piquet Jr. was let go from Renault, he claimed that the team had asked him to crash his car during the race. This incident is commonly referred to as crashgate.
Toto Wolff said his Mercedes #F1 team will be watching Felipe Massa’s lawsuit with interest, and believes success for the former Ferrari racer could set a precedent for a potential challenge against Lewis Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi 2021 heartbreak 🗣👀 https://t.co/pmfLOidqjA pic.twitter.com/EpOtq7xCWU
— Mirror F1 (@MirrorF1) September 15, 2023
Felipe Massa is looking to get the FIA to invalidate the results of the Singapore Grand Prix from the Championship. If this happens, Felipe Massa would win the 2008 Championship which was originally won by Lewis Hamilton.
In this case, Lewis Hamilton could lose the Championship he won with McLaren. However, it would pave the way for the 7-time Champion and Mercedes to file a case of their own for the 2021 Championship. Toto Wolff claimed that he is following Felipe Massa’s case closely to see if it sets a precedent that can be utilized in favor of Lewis Hamilton.