Of all the rivalries in F1, few transcend generations, genders, and even professions quite like the one between Lewis Hamilton and the Piquet family. The seven-time world champion shares no love lost with the Piquets—a tension rooted in a history of ill-intended remarks directed at him over the years.
Three-time world champion Nelson Piquet Sr. was banned from the F1 paddock after making racist comments about Hamilton. Just months later, his son, Nelson Piquet Jr., indirectly targeted the Briton by referring to George Russell as a “polished robot”, which was widely interpreted as a subtle dig at Hamilton.
Now once again, during the Miami GP weekend, Kelly Piquet’s cousin Rodrigo has come out to mock the 40-year-old. The reason? Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes’ cars had brilliant pace in the sprint shootout on Friday, which 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli capitalized on perfectly, by grabbing his first-ever career pole. And Rodrigo decided to put up an Instagram post aimed at Hamilton because of that.
Mercedes, of course, was Hamilton‘s team between 2013 and 2024, after which he left for Ferrari, reportedly in search of better success since the Brackley-based team had been misfiring since the start of the ground-effect era in ’22. So, Rodrigo found it funny that on a day when Hamilton could only muster P7, his young replacement at his former team secured the front-row start.
Rodrigo shared a meme that featured a man with his palm on his pace. The caption read, ‘Hamilton fans watching Kimi get Sprint pole with Mercedes after Hamilton left’.
As expected, the Briton’s loyal fanbase was having none of it.
guys we living rent free. in this economy. we really won. pic.twitter.com/rrbgjPVD7K
— sim (@simsgazette) May 3, 2025
Like they’ve done countless times in the past, the LH44 army rallied together to defend their favorite driver against this jab by taking to X (formerly Twitter). One fan took a very short trip down memory lane to remind Rodrigo (and other haters) that just a few weeks ago, Hamilton was where Antonelli is now.
“This is funny on so many levels. Lewis has a sprint pole and win with Ferrari which everyone seems to forget,” they wrote.
The user also added how despite the family welcoming a new baby (Kelly and Max Verstappen’s daughter Lily) yesterday, they cannot seem to get over taking shots at Hamilton. “And this family has a newborn baby but instead they are obsessed with Lewis Hamilton.”
This is funny on so many levels.
Lewis has a sprint pole and win with Ferrari which everyone seems to forget.
And this family has a newborn baby but instead they are obsessed with Lewis Hamilton. https://t.co/CIZQcXrGp4
— Stefanie (@fastpitstop) May 3, 2025
“This family completely a loser,” another fan added, not holding back.
This family completely a loser ☠️☠️
— E (@divadellapista) May 3, 2025
Nevertheless, Rodrigo’s ‘joke’ comes at a time when Hamilton’s struggles appear to be unending. He did join Ferrari to chase more success, but so far, has been nowhere close to the top three places barring his sprint race win in China. In Miami, he once again faltered yesterday.
Talking about whether there are chances of improvement during Saturday’s sprint race and qualifying, or in the Grand Prix, Hamilton said, “There’s always ideas. Whether or not they will be right or not.. there’s definitely learnings to be taken – set-up changes, how the car behaved, there’s definitely work to do to pick up speed going into the rest of the weekend.”
Hamilton has not felt comfortable with the SF-25 in any race so far this campaign. But that said, his teammate Charles Leclerc has been performing much better, even eking out a P3 finish in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago.
Currently, Hamilton is P7 in the Drivers’ standings 16 points behind Leclerc in fifth, and seven behind Antonelli right in front.
