The 2018 season was a face-off between two four-time world champions — Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton — tussling to get one over each other. In their race to become a five-time F1 champion, both drivers suffered several setbacks, but it was Hamilton who prevailed in the end.
However, when he candidly celebrated his triumph at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, it instigated a controversy. While the then-Mercedes driver had secured his fifth world title at the Mexican GP itself with two races to spare, closing off the season with victory at the Yas Marina Circuit was special for Hamilton, owing to the tough title fight he faced that year from Vettel.
So, when the final podium ceremony of the season took place, Hamilton unzipped his race suit and even took his undershirt off to go topless and show the tattoos on his back during the champagne celebrations. While it seemed a bit over the top, Hamilton’s fellow podium sitters — Vettel and Max Verstappen — played along to spray champagne on the Briton’s back.
Naturally, this wasn’t something the FIA would have accepted, perhaps fearing that it may set a bad precedent for future podium ceremonies. However, F1 photojournalist Kym Illman revealed that the motorsport governing body had other reasons to ban such ‘stripping’ celebrations.
“The FIA swiftly banned drivers from wearing (or unwearing) anything but their zipped up race suit on the podium, as sponsors pay a lot of money for their logos to be seen,” Illman stated in a recent Instagram post, recalling this incident from 2018.
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While this could be the official reason that the FIA gave, they would have wanted to keep the drivers well-behaved [which has been a pressing point of FIA’s agenda lately] and maintain the sanctity of the prestigious podium ceremony. Hamilton, though, had his reasoning for celebrating in this manner.
The ‘Still I Rise’ connection in Hamilton’s celebration
The 2018 Abu Dhabi GP podium was one of the first instances where Hamilton may have shown his back full of tattoos publicly. Besides looking aesthetic and cool, it also has a sentimental value with the words ‘Still I Rise’ engraved on his back.
Hamilton has always used these words as his motto, highlighting his general attitude towards life and racing. Looking at the hardships he has faced in his journey to the top of F1, it makes sense why he would be so passionate in celebrating his triumphs.
“I’ve always wanted to do it. I wanted to show ‘Still I Rise’ and I think it was the perfect moment because that’s really how it’s been this year,” the Briton said about his celebration in Abu Dhabi, per RaceFans.
Hamilton discussed how he felt inspired by his compatriot and junior formula driver Billy Monger, who suffered horrific injuries at a race in Donnington in 2017, got his legs amputated, and still made a return to racing in 2018.
The then-Mercedes driver emphasized how his motto ‘Still I Rise’ is exactly about people like Monger and their journies that are filled with struggles, that many of us may never face. “I’m trying to be as big a spokesman I can be about it. So that’s really why I did it,” he concluded.
