Lewis Hamilton talks about his awkward ‘kiss-like’ photograph with Valtteri Bottas after they sealed another constructors’ title.
In 2018, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas dominated the championship with Mercedes. With that, Mercedes managed to win their fifth straight championship.
That year in Brazil, Hamilton, despite already winning the drivers’ title, was fully focused and won the penultimate race of the year. That allowed his team to secure the constructors’ title comfortable even before the last race.
The aftermath of the race displayed a public display of affection. After four years, Hamilton claims Bottas wanted to kiss him at that moment, but the Briton got saved by the helmets.
“I wasn’t quite sure whether Valtteri wanted to kiss me or not, but thankfully we had helmets on so he couldn’t get close. But I think potentially in that moment he might have wanted to kiss me, but it’s okay, Valtteri. It’s okay,” said Hamilton.
“I wasn’t quite sure whether Valtteri wanted to kiss me or not, but thankfully we had helmets on so he couldn’t get close. But I think potentially in that moment he might have wanted to kiss me, but it’s okay, Valtteri. It’s okay.” iconic 😭 pic.twitter.com/vEyvd5P41S
— martyna⁴⁴ (@burning__fire) July 17, 2022
Also read: Romain Grosjean adores all-time F1 record holder Lewis Hamilton
Valtteri Bottas has a contradicting story to what Lewis Hamilton said
While Hamilton claims that Bottas intended to kiss him, back in 2018, the Finnish race driver talked about this photograph after the end of the season and accused Hamilton of the same.
“In this picture, Lewis was trying to kiss me. It was a really confusing moment,” Bottas said. “I went for the hug, but then I could see his lips and then his tongue as well.”
“Just before that, I changed my head to the other side, and we hugged. Lewis whispered to me, ‘Ok, we will do it later.’,” Bottas added. Indeed, it can never be said who is telling the absolute truth.
It’s like one’s words against the other. So, the fans can only opt to believe one out of the two. Hamilton had a good bond with Bottas, and the Briton considered him his best teammate.