F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Fans Attack FIA With Racism Accusations

A controversy from the Belgian Grand Prix that sprouted from the harsh penalty levied upon Lewis Hamilton for colliding with Sergio Perez has been boiling lately. Not only F1 fans but even former F1 star Martin Brundle has spoken against this move by the FIA Stewards.

To summarise the incident, Hamilton was trying to pass Perez at turn 15 when his Mercedes came in contact with the RB19, causing Perez to end the race as a result of a big hole at the point of impact.

Four FIA Stewards including former British Racing driver Derek Warwick charged Hamilton with a five-second penalty that saw him drop from P4 to P7 in the sprint race. Not only that but Hamilton was also punished with 2 points on his license. Their official statement read:

“Hamilton was attempting to pass Perez on the inside at Turn 15."

“While Perez was giving little room on the inside for Hamilton, Hamilton drove onto the kerb and subsequently understeered into Perez. The stewards consider that Hamilton was predominantly at fault for causing a collision.”

Hamilton bravely quoted F1 legend Ayrton Senna's famous lines as a reply to the FIA and called the event a racing incident. He said:

“As Ayrton said, if you no longer go for a gap that exists, then you are no longer a racing driver.

That is what I did. And when I watched it back it feels like a racing incident to me.

The conditions were tricky out there. We are doing our best and it wasn’t intentional. He was slow and I went up the inside and I was more than half-a-car length alongside.

I feel like we should not be deterred from racing. It would have been nice to finish fourth but I don’t really care about finishing fourth, I want to win.”

The Belgian Grand Prix has earned a reputation for being tricky lately, courtesy of the rains that drop on-track visibility quite badly.

Toto Wolff sided with Hamilton on the incident. He said:

“The argument about the damage isn’t valid because he (Perez) was going backwards before then. Massively backwards. And then when you look at that corner, they were side-by-side, and it takes two to tango. It’s a racing incident. For me that’s really clear.”

Several fans were unhappy to see Hamilton being charged with such harsh punishment for what many call a 'racing incident'. Former F1 star Martin Brundle has also raised his voice against the stewards calling it "harsh".

However, many fans on Twitter accused Steward Derek Warwick, a man stewarding this weekend, of being racist back in 2016 when he called Max Verstappen the "next great white hope." Many believe that a racist mindset like that of Warwick won't be in a position to judge a matter without bias, therefore blaming him for the harsh penalty levied on Hamilton. However, no written proof of Warwick's written statement has been found yet.

Warwick clarified his racist statement in 2021 when he was under fire from F1 enthusiasts for calling out Lewis Hamilton on another issue. He claimed that he called Max Verstappen the "next great thing" regardless of his color.

Fans have taken on to Twitter to lash out at the FIA, with several of them questioning the unbiased nature of the sport itself.

Man’s a bigot and a racist. He will do anything to stop hamilton
— kimber (@kimber66803239) July 29, 2023

He doesn't even try to hide his obvious bias!! How is he still a steward? Disgraceful
— Lady Roxalot 🇬🇧 (@LadyRoxalot) July 29, 2023

@fia and @Ben_Sulayem have no cooking clue about governance. This is a complete joke. Making a mockery of the sport
— 𝕋𝕒𝕦 𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕤𝕠𝕟 (@JustDemulcent) July 29, 2023

Of course, the tweets also had replies from Max Verstappen fans who sided with the stewards but that isn't relevant at this point in time. We're not looking at Hamilton fans vs Verstappen fans' fistfight here but at a much larger issue that seems to have garnered a lot of attention.

For sure, all four Stewards have given their verdict collectively on behalf of the FIA so I'm not blaming Warwick particularly either. However, I'm not sure if there was an inquiry into Warwick's comments back in 2016 because a racial accusation is a big one in today's times and an organization like the FIA must ensure that its stewards have a clean reputation. In case one of them does drown in a sea of controversy, the FIA must take the responsibility to investigate and publish its findings, at least for the sake of its reputation, and of the sports as well.

Because accusations such as these make a fun sport all the more bitter.

DEREK WARWICK is serious issue.
We need to raise our voice against such corrupted, compromised & biased person. Working in F1 as steward, something is fishy here, his involvement in Abu Dhabi robbery, Honda connection & racist statements TheGreatWhiteHope. Disgusting 😳 #F1 #FIA
— 𝐑𝐀𝐘 💜 (@RayyLH44) July 29, 2023