Lewis Hamilton needs to read up a bit on India and other 'poor' countries before making sweeping generalizations

"I've been to Vietnam before and it is beautiful. I've been to India before to a race which was strange because India was such a poor place yet we had this massive, beautiful Grand Prix track made in the middle of nowhere. I felt very conflicted when I went to that Grand Prix," said Lewis Hamilton when asked about his views on the soon-to-be-inaugurated Vietnam Grand Prix.

It's things like these. With Hamilton, It's always things like these. To be honest, this is nothing new in a career where he has far too often come up with a quote so off the mark it just don't look good coming from the mouth of the ambassador of the sport.

Not many can forget his "Maybe it's because I'm black" comment that he made after getting penalized during a race in 2011. He's had a long history of putting his foot in his mouth, to say the least.

But coming to this latest shocker, you feel compelled to ask him a few questions. The biggest of them all: How much does he know about India? How much does he know about the rest of the world?

There is no denying that India is, in essence, a poor country. But then you have to ask, what is Brazil? It is in some ways a nation which is in a much worse condition than India. How about Mexico? Or Russia, with its history of human rights abuse?

Hamilton should also be asked what his views were on races being held at places like Bahrain, where people were actually getting killed. Or better yet, what is his own background like? Does he not come from a poor background as well, with Formula One making him the multi-millionaire that he is right now?

Most importantly, is he a "world" champion or a champion of the riches?

"We've got a lot of real racing history in England, Germany, Italy and now in the (United) States it is starting to grow," Hamilton went on. "If it was my business, I'd be trying to do more events in those countries...I think connecting to cities where a lot of people are (knowledgeable) is probably a good thing, not necessarily going to countries where they don't know so much about Formula 1."

So according to Hamilton, Formula 1 should be restricted to countries like UK and Germany, where there is 'real' racing history. Why bother trying to make the sport truly global? It's not like the sport can benefit from the increased awareness and revenue from the newer countries, right?

This is a clear example of a misinformed sports personality running his mouth on a topic which he has no idea about. It's no surprise that he looks thoroughly naive and insensitive at the end of it.

I expect another heartfelt apology from Hamilton to his Indian fans on different social media outlets, but sadly the damage has been done. Next time Lewis, maybe read up a bit.