Ever since announcing the name and the release date and putting out the teaser for the F1 movie, Lewis Hamilton’s passion project has found itself in a PR mess. The movie has an account on X (formerly Twitter), which posts anything and everything related to F1. A part of their marketing strategy is to project themselves as an actual F1 team, and not a fictitious one.
This has caught them on the wrong side of the fans as repeated attempts at honoring the legends of the sport have backfired. The latest comes in the form of a tribute to Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van ‘t Hoff. Both drivers lost their lives while racing on the Spa Francorchamps circuit in F1’s feeder series.
With the Belgian GP weekend on, they posted a picture of the two drivers with a caption that read, “Forever racing for them. Remembering Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van ‘t Hoff – forever members of our motorsport family.” One of the fans called the X handle out for associating themselves with Hubert and van ‘t Hoff.
You’re not out risking your life at the tracks, racing for them. Wearing a race suit does not make you a racer. You can call cut when your set gets out of control. They couldn’t. It is one thing to honor their memories, but this one feels heavy and out of place.
— Charles16forme (@charles16forme) July 26, 2024
The reply to the fan’s reaction, however, has only infuriated the F1 fanbase further. Posting a picture of their show car crashed into a barrier, they put out the caption: Please explain this.
Comparing a staged crash to 2 young talents who lost their lives
Whoever is running this account is sick— N A (@p1ntonelli) July 26, 2024
Many X users demanded the post to be taken down and called it out for being disrespectful. One even pointed out the audacity to compare the crash which they perhaps did on purpose for the shoot to the real ones that killed young drivers.
if i were you i’d be ashamed to be this disrespectful to actual drivers who sadly have lost their lives on track
— liv (@astrebandit) July 26, 2024
While this may come as a surprise to some, posts like this are common on ‘Expensify APX-GP’. Just last week, they came on fans’ target for pulling off a similar PR stunt on Jules Bianchi’s ninth death anniversary.
