Red Bull Insider Lauds ‘Game Changer’ Lewis Hamilton to Counter Sophia Floersch’s ‘Antagonizing’ Comment

Lewis Hamilton has spent his entire career trying to become a champion of causes he holds close to his heart. Chief amongst them are inclusivity and gender diversity. However, when he proposed the idea of a ‘gender inclusive F1 team’, Alpine-backed driver Sophia Floersch decided to take a dig at him on social media. A huge portion of the Red Bull academy, including a Red Bull mechanic, came out in Hamilton’s defense.

Discussing a potential F1 team with two female drivers, Hamilton stated that he would pick Mercedes-backed Doriane Pin and Kenzo Craigie, a 13-year-old talented kart racer. Floersch, who didn’t take this too kindly for some reason, decided to reply on X (formerly Twitter), “Put your money where your mouth is!“

Calum Nicholas, a familiar face in the Red Bull garage, questioned her intentions. He tweeted, “Why would you want to antagonise people that are already on your side?”

“Lewis has poured more money and time into championing underrepresented groups than ANYONE in the history of our sport. The Hamilton Commission was a game-changer and without it, we likely wouldn’t have many of the programs working to break down the barriers to entry into racing.”  

Hamilton has not responded to Floersch’s comments yet, nor has she provided any justification for her controversial statements. However, it should not come as a surprise, considering she has been in hot water with the racing community because of other views in the past too.

Why is Floersch anti-W Series and F1 Academy?

Floersch, who has reached as far as F3 in her career, has been notably critical of the W Series and F1 Academy. This is surprising because it provides talented women like herself with the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of the world in open-wheel racing.

However, her argument boils down to the fact that she believes she can race against men and doesn’t need to meddle in an all-female series.

This did not go down too well with racing driver Abbie Eaton. The former Grand Tour test driver came on to the Back Seat Drivers podcast to publicly denounce her criticism. “We can earn a lot of money here and this is costing us no money to race. Whereas, she’s got very wealthy family,” she explained.

That said, Eaton also revealed that most of the time it is not Floersch that is making these comments. As it turns out, it is public knowledge in the paddock that her father oftentimes uses her account to vent out his own opinions.