With Lewis Hamilton having established a larger-than-life status, rarely any of his rivals can afford to criticize him without facing the heat of his fans. His former teammate George Russell once fearing a similar response from Hamilton’s fans quickly corrected a grave mistake he made.
Russell once placed Hamilton at the bottom of the rankings after misunderstanding a question in a segment for SportsBible. When asked who would be the best driver to have in his pub quiz team, Russell placed Hamilton at the bottom, explaining,
“I think Lewis would be the bottom because Lewis doesn’t care about, well, doesn’t focus much on the history of Formula 1. He’s about the future, he’s about the present“.
However, when told that his answer may not only be based on F1 knowledge as the question is about general knowledge, Russell understood his mistake and quickly took the #44 driver off the list! “I’m going to take Lewis off here because I feel like, I feel like I’ll get some hate by some of the fans here,” he joked.
While Russell’s comments were lighthearted, in the process, he did take a sly dig at Hamilton’s feverish fanbase. And Russell’s apprehensions come from his own personal experiences. The #63 driver found himself on the wrong side of the ‘LH44 Army’ last season when he went toe-to-toe with the seven-time champion in his last season for the Silver Arrows.
Why were Hamilton fans against Russell in 2024?
With Russell more often than not outperforming Hamilton, the now 40-year-old’s fans would often criticize the former Williams driver. One such moment when Russell faced the wrath of the Hamilton fans was when he claimed,
“Who maybe would’ve thought that a young kid coming from Williams would beat Lewis Hamilton in his first year as his teammate“.
george russell : “who maybe would’ve thought that a young kid coming from williams would beat lewis hamilton in his first year as his teammate.” :
naomi : “do you think kimi (antonelli) has the potential to put you under pressure?”
gr : “if you’re in a top tier seat, if he… pic.twitter.com/4wpXwB64Ps
— sim (@sim3744) December 1, 2024
Although Russell may have indirectly wanted to praise Hamilton by pointing out how difficult it has been for anyone in F1 to beat the seven-time champion, the 40-year-old’s fans definitely did not think of it that way. One fan even wrote on X, “This guy needs a piston thrown at his face. It’s like who is he trying to prove himself to? He’s pathetic.”
In reality, however, the flak that Russell gets from Hamilton fans is ironic. Russell has always been an admirer of Hamilton and followed the former McLaren driver’s journey closely before he carved out a career for himself in F1.
