3 times Lewis Hamilton lashed out at the media

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton is arguably one of the most popular drivers in F1 history and has etched his name in folklore with his remarkable performances over the past two decades. The British driver remains the only driver of color to have ever raced at the pinnacle of motorsport in its 75-year history.

He has earned plaudits over the years for his achievements on the track and has also been one of the more influential drivers off the track as well. However, he has also faced a substantial amount of criticism over the years, directed towards his behavior and mistakes on the track.

Lewis Hamilton has shared a complex dynamic with the media outlets and pundits over the years and has not shied away from replying to his critics. Below are the three instances where the seven-time F1 world champion lashed out at the media:

#Lewis Hamilton's press conference walkout in Japan 2016

The Mercedes driver was caught in a lighthearted moment during the pre-race press conference ahead of the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix, where he used Snapchat filters on his and fellow drivers' faces while answering questions from the media.

However, the media outlets did not appreciate Hamilton's mannerisms and called the demeanor "disrespectful" in their subsequent articles written throughout the weekend. Lewis Hamilton was not pleased with the situation and refused to answer any questions from the media, and later worked out of the press conference as well in protest.

#Hamilton calls out the media's hypocrisy in their praise for the rival

The seven-time F1 world champion was not entirely pleased with the media praising his rival and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's dominance over his then-teammate Sergio Perez during the 2023 season.

During an interaction with Sky Italia, Hamilton believed that he had had much tougher teammates than the Dutch driver and had been able to produce similar performances as the latter, but had not received as much attention for it. He said that the media narrative of Verstappen's dominance was "blown up much more".

# Calling out F1 pundits' criticism directed towards him over the years

Ahead of his much-anticipated move to Ferrari, former F1 team principal and pundit Eddie Jordan called the move "suicidal" and believed that the Italian team should not have hired Lewis Hamilton.

In his interview with Time Magazine earlier in the year, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he was unfazed by the criticism directed towards him by "old white men" and reminded that he had "never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing".

He also believed that the criticism would ultimately die down slowly due to the on-track performances.