Lewis Hamilton Instagram post for Helmut Marko; British racer falls for fake quote

Lewis Hamilton Instagram post for Helmut Marko; 6 times world champion fell for fake news as he ranted over something which was never said.

Lewis Hamilton this time saw himself in an embarrassing yet innocent situation. The British racer apparently fell for the fake news as he ranted over Helmut Marko on Instagram over something which was never spoken.

On his Instagram account, Hamilton posted the following story: “Helmut, it deeply saddens me that you consider fighting for equal treatment of black people and people of colour a distraction”

“I’m actually quite offended. A distraction for me was fans showing up in blackface to taunt my family on race weekend. A distraction for me was the unnecessary and additional diversity and unfair treatment I faced as a child, teen and even now, due to the colour of my skin”

I hope this speaks volumes to the few people of colour you have on your tea, about your priorities and how you view them. Wake up. This sport needs to change. #BLACKLIVESMATTER”

This came after Marko reportedly said that a few F1 drivers were “distracted” by supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. To make it seem genuine it was cited that Marko said it to RTL in a recent interview.

“Whilst some drivers are distracted, talking about lives which matter. The only thing that matters to Max is the World Championship. His training has been optimized for this and he is ready to go” said Marko, speaking to RTL. This was the quote which was circulated.

However, it has been revealed that the Red Bull advisor never spoke these words. AutoSport Journalist Luke Smith busted the misinformation by claiming that RTL has no story with that statement.

Fact check on Hamilton's Instagram post: there does not seem to be any RTL interview where Marko says he is "distracted" by #blacklivesmatter. The English translated story with those quotes links only to the RTL website where there's no story saying that.

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) June 17, 2020

Also read: Lewis Hamilton: Formula 1 Management to allow British racer to take a knee

He further claims “The latest Marko interview from RTL was on June 5. Marko spoke about Verstappen being particularly focused, but made no comment on Hamilton/BLM.” he wrote on Twitter.

The latest Marko interview from RTL was on June 5. Marko spoke about Verstappen being particularly focused, but made no comment on Hamilton/BLM.

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) June 17, 2020

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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