"Takes balls": Former Ferrari employee applauds Lewis Hamilton’s father’s gesture in 2021 controversy

Former Ferrari employee Gino Rosato praised Lewis Hamilton's father, Anthony, for his actions after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where his son lost the title to Max Verstappen after a controversial decision. As per Rosato, Anthony Hamilton was one of the first people to meet Verstappen's father, Jos, after the race.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi race ended in heartbreak for Hamilton, who lost the chance to win his eighth World Championship despite leading most of the race because of a controversial decision during the final laps of the race. While Verstappen and the Red Bull garage celebrated the title win, Hamilton was left sitting in his car.

As per Gino Rosato, a former Ferrari employee, Anthony Hamilton was one of the first people to greet Jos Verstappen, Max's father, after the race. This was quite unexpected as his own son had just lost the title race. Citing this example, Rosato mentioned that Anthony is one of the nicest people he has ever come across.

"If I would have to say the 10, 15 nicest people I've ever met, anyone who met Anthony Hamilton, he is one of the nicest human beings on the planet," Rosato said on the Pitstop podcast (59:30 onwards).

"And you saw it, the class he had when Max won the controversial year that he won, who was the first guy to go shake hands to Max's father? Takes balls, huh?"

That was the last time Hamilton got close to winning a World Championship. Red Bull dominated between 2022 and 2024, and the Briton then moved to Ferrari this season. While the move was hyped, he has underperformed so far in the season.

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Ferrari boss reveals they "underestimate[d]" Lewis Hamilton's challenge with the team

One of the main reasons associated with Lewis Hamilton's poor performance has been the adaptability to a Ferrari-powered car. He had previously only driven Mercedes-powered cars in Formula 1. However, the issue seemed to be more expansive as the races passed by with seemingly little to no improvement in Hamilton's performance.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur recently opened up about the issue with Lewis Hamilton, claiming that the team "underestimate[d]" the challenge he would face with the car.

"I think perhaps that we underestimate the challenge for Lewis at the beginning of the season," Vasseur said before the Hungarian GP. "He spent almost 10 years with McLaren and then 10 years with Mercedes, that’s almost 20 years with Mercedes in the same environment."

He then explained that it was a major change for Lewis Hamilton to move to Ferrari, and despite his overall performance, Vasseur mentioned that he was satisfied with some of the pace he showed in a few races.

"It was a huge change for Lewis in terms of culture, in terms of people around him, in terms of software, in terms of car, in terms of every single topic was a big change perhaps that we underestimate this, Lewis and myself," he added. "But I'm very, very pleased because the last four or five races he was back into the pace."

Lewis Hamilton's best so far this season is P4; meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc has been on the podium multiple times. However, Hamilton is expected to improve after the summer break in the remaining races.