"This happened three years ago, get up to speed, champ": When Formula E trolled Lewis Hamilton on his social media post

Formula E once trolled Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton for a massive crash involving former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld on social media. The Formula E category was first introduced in 2014 and has been a pioneer in conducting races run on electrical energy.

Although not as popular as its Turbo-Hybrid counterpart, F1, Formula E has gained steam over the years with its championship and has become a viable option for many world-class drivers. Over the last decade, it has attracted many popular and big-name automobile manufacturers to the series in their bid to race at a high level with electric cars.

However, in its first race in China, Formula E saw a big crash involving former BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld, where he flipped around after hitting the barriers.

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The clip was later shared by Lewis Hamilton in 2017, who was at the time driving for Mercedes, on his Instagram profile. He gave his verdict on the crash:

"So I’m trying to keep an eye on other formulas and see clips of @fiaformulae, and this one I had to post. If the FIA don’t ban this driver, then I’m disgusted. That is some of the most dangerous driving I’ve ever seen and this kind of disgraceful driving is unacceptable. I hope @nickheidfeld is ok? What’s your take?”

However, Formula E hilariously trolled the British driver for his concerns and wrote:

"@lewishamilton this happened three years ago, get up to speed, Champ!"

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Heidfeld raced in Formula E until 2021 before moving to the RallyCross championship, while Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to join Ferrari in F1.

Former F1 driver chimes in on Lewis Hamilton's struggles

Former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld stated that he believed age was a factor in Lewis Hamilton's dip in the sport over the last three years. Speaking with F1-Insider, the former Renault driver said:

“If the car suits him, he can still perform at his best. You saw it in China. But compared to Leclerc, he’s currently behind – especially in qualifying. And of course, even if some people don’t like to hear that now, he’s no longer the youngest. If you compare him with Hamilton five or ten years ago, you can see the differences.

“But it shows: After many years in the same environment, changing teams is difficult. Lewis was perfectly integrated at Mercedes – now he has to get used to a new car. And the older you get, the harder it is to make a fresh start.”

Lewis Hamilton has played second fiddle to his teammate Charles Leclerc for the majority of the races in the 2025 season and only finished ahead of him once in eight races.

About the author

Devang is a Formula 1 and NASCAR journalist at Sportskeeda with 3500+ articles and over 5 million reads under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has a total experience of 3.5 years.

To keep up with the sport’s developments, Devang watches every single session and comes up with unique angles for the stories, from the readers’ perspective, using his expertise in the field. He strives to report accurate, ethical and relevant data by reading information from verified sources in the field, ones that are also trusted by industry experts.

Currently, his favorite drivers on the grid are Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo; he is particularly impressed by how the two drivers rarely lose their cool and approach everything with a smile on their faces. He classifies himself as a ‘Tifosi’ and is a Charles Leclerc fan.

Devang is a sports buff and when he is away from his keyboard, he watches other sports like cricket, tennis, badminton, and football, to name a few.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam