Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could not keep up with their results from the 2023 Australian GP. The 7-time world champion managed to take Mercedes to Q3, settling for a P5 start on Sunday’s race while Russell was knocked out in Q2, securing a P11 start for Sunday.
Mercedes’s poor show might have disappointed some of Hamilton’s fans. But team LH has started beef with Sky Sports F1 Pundit Karun Chandhok.
Weird theme to trolling tonight…. #Blocked pic.twitter.com/QykW3xn9ml
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) April 28, 2023
The former F1 driver shared a screenshot of a tweet targeting him from his comments. He has been mercilessly trolled and abused by the Briton’s fanbase for his comments.
Why was Karun Chandhok targeted by Lewis Hamilton fans?
Karun Chandok is part of Sky F1’s commentary team and was analyzing the dying moments of Azerbaijan GP’s Q2 session. The Former F1 driver noticed that Lewis Hamilton had played a part in George Russell getting knocked out in Q2.
The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Russell secured 8th and 9th until McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pushed them down the order. The Aussie snatched P9 in Q2, forcing Russell out of qualifying.
According to Chandok, the 7x champion “inadvertently” gave a tow to the McLaren driver, sabotaging his teammate’s session. He further claimed that Mercedes should investigate the driver.
Karun said Mercedes should investigate why Lewis inadvertently give Piastri a tow as that’s the reason why George got knocked out. Role reversal and he’d gleefully talk about GR out qualifying him again.
— 🇯🇲7hanos876🇯🇲 (@thanos876) April 28, 2023
Since then the Sky F1 pundit has faced the fury of Hamilton’s fanbase. However, he later clarified his statement in another tweet. The comment section of a Sky F1 post featuring Chandhok was flooded with trolls asking, “Did Lewis steal your wife?” Many of those have since been deleted by Sky.
Chandhok clarifies his statements
Karun Chandhok faced the heat on Twitter from the Lewis Hamilton fanbase. However, the pundit clarified what he meant after a Twitter user named ‘MrRoryReid’ tagged him.
The Indian wrote, “As someone who’s been on TV a lot more than me, you know context is important. I don’t believe I sounded surprised and if so, that wasn’t intended.”
Rory – as someone who’s been on TV a lot more than me, you know context is important. a) I don’t believe I sounded surprised – and if so, that wasn’t intended (b) I have nothing but respect for Lewis.
My point was that George will be disappointed after being ahead for the last 3
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) April 28, 2023
The commentator claimed he had nothing but absolute respect for the 7x world champion. He added, “My point was that George will be disappointed after being ahead for the last 3 (races).”
There has been a lot of back and forth between Hamilton fans and Chandhok. However, the abuse and trolling of a sports commentator is not acceptable. Some LH fans even apologized to the unit for the harsh comments from the fanbase.
