“Maybe It’s Because I’m Black!”: Lewis Hamilton’s 13-Year-Old Attack on FIA Resurfaces Amidst Fernando Alonso’s Profiling Allegations

“Maybe It’s Because I’m Black!”: Lewis Hamilton’s 13-Year-Old Attack on FIA Resurfaces Amidst Fernando Alonso’s Profiling Allegations

In the aftermath of the 2024 Miami GP Sprint Race, Fernando Alonso shockingly claimed that the reason Lewis Hamilton was not penalized for his lap-1 incident was because he was not Spanish. The Briton himself made a similar remark 13 years ago.

During the 2011 Monaco GP, Hamilton was involved in four separate incidents with Michael Schumacher, Jaime Alguersuari, Pastor Maldonado, and Felipe Massa, respectively. The stewards handed Hamilton a drive-through penalty for his incident with Massa and a post-race 20-second time penalty for his duel with Maldonado.

After receiving these penalties, Hamilton was quoted by Crash.net as saying, “Maybe it’s because I’m black! You know what, out of six races, I’ve been to the stewards five times – it’s a joke, an absolute fr*****’ joke.”

Hamilton’s remarks may have just been a joke, though. He had referenced British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Ali G‘ during his tirade.

Alonso, on the other hand, is nothing in the mood for jest. Viaplay had quoted the Spaniard as saying, “He’s not Spanish, so probably no penalty.” Now, it is being reported that the Aston Martin driver is escalating this matter to the FIA.

Fernando Alonso knocks on the doors of the FIA to punish Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso has expressed his intention to get an audience with the FIA’s president Mohammad Ben Sulayem. RacingNews365 quoted Alonso hinting at a perceived anti-Spanish bias in the stewarding decisions of late.

Alonso explained, “I do feel that nationality matters. I will speak with Mohammed, with the FIA. I need to make sure that there is not anything wrong with my nationality or anything that can influence any decision. Not only for me, also for the future generation of Spanish drivers, they need to be protected.” 

The #14 driver has been on the radar of the Stewards on multiple occasions this season. At the 2023 Australian GP, the Aston Martin driver was penalized for supposedly brake-testing George Russell and causing an incident that led to the British driver being stranded in the middle of the circuit – almost upside down.

During the 2024 Chinese GP Sprint Race, the Spanish racing ace was once again in the books of the Stewards. This time, he received another slap on the wrist from the officials for his aggressive battle with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

Don’t miss these