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Lewis Hamilton – who has 38 MILLION followers on Instagram and Twitter – says everyone should get off ‘toxic’ social media… after rival Max Verstappen said he was being persecuted online when Sky Sports questioned his 2021 title win
- Lewis Hamilton says social media is getting ‘more toxic’ over the years
- The seven-time F1 champion has called on platforms to do more to protect people
- His comments come after Max Verstappen complained about online prosecution
- Verstappen declined to speak to Sky Sports about comments about his title win
- Hamilton, meanwhile, was also involved in a separate feud with Fernando Alonso
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Lewis Hamilton, who has more than 30 million Instagram followers and nearly 8 million Twitter followers, has said everyone should get off “toxic” social media.
The seven-time world champion spoke out after finishing second to Max Verstappen at Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, a race that is dripping with bitterness on various levels before and after.
Verstappen complained about persecution on social media after ‘a certain’ Sky Sports presenter – presumably pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz – questioned the validity of the Dutchman’s world title last season.
Kravitz’s to-camera claims that Hamilton was being ‘robbed’ of the championship prompted Verstappen and Red Bull to withdraw from all partnerships with Sky in Mexico City.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was involved in a separate feud with his former McLaren teammate, bitter rival and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard claimed in an interview that Hamilton’s championships were less hard-earned than Verstappen’s because the Briton only had to fight for them, not for other teams.
Lewis Hamilton has claimed that social media is ‘becoming more and more toxic’ over the years
His comments come after Max Verstappen complained he was being sued online after a reporter – presumably Ted Kravitz – questioned the validity of his 2021 title win
That prompted Hamilton to post a photo on Twitter of him standing on the top step of the podium at the 2007 US Grand Prix, looking down at Alonso, one step below.
The photo attracted 291,000 likes and 13,000 comments.
Still, Hamilton said: “Social media is getting more and more toxic over the years and I think we all need to get rid of it eventually.
“Mental health is such a prominent thing right now. So many people read the comments and the things people say, and it’s hurtful.
“Luckily I don’t read the stuff, but the media platforms need to do more to protect people, especially young children and women, but at the moment they don’t, so I think this will continue.”
Hamilton, who employs staff to service his social media, including London agency Freuds, posted on Instagram after Sunday’s race, suggesting he’s not quite ready to cut ties with the platforms. He has used them before to settle fights.
Kravitz suggested Hamilton was ‘robbed’ at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Speaking of his feud with Alonso, Hamilton said: “I don’t have much to say about it. I have to giggle a bit to be honest. I’ve tried to be really respectful over the years.
“If I was ever asked who was the better driver, I always tried to praise him. It’s certainly interesting to see the comments being made, but it doesn’t really matter, so I just gave it a thumbs up.’
Two-time world champion Verstappen, who is a somewhat reserved social media exponent but posted at least six images on Instagram after the last race and has 9.5 million Instagram followers, said: “The sport is more popular than ever. More people are looking at it and more people are writing about it.
Hamilton was involved in a feud with Fernando Alonso in which he posted this photo after the Spaniard said Hamilton’s championships were less hard-earned than Verstappen’s
World champions Verstappen (center) and Hamilton (left) have both called on social media platforms to do more to protect people from receiving hurtful comments from online trolls
“But isn’t it great that they can type things like this. I hope we can come up with an algorithm to stop people from becoming keyboard warriors because people like this would never say things like this to your face.
“But they’re sitting at their computers at home and they’re upset, frustrated, and they can write whatever they want.
“It can be really harmful and hurtful to some people and it’s not how it should be.”