Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has caused an outcry on social media after his latest post sent fans crazy.
The seven-time world champion is preparing for the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend as he approaches the end of his time with current team Mercedes.
Hamilton has achieved three race wins at the circuit in his career, all of which have been with his current team, who he will be leaving at the end of 2024 to join Ferrari.
Mercedes’ decline in performance over the last few seasons has meant that a fourth Brazilian GP win has so far eluded the seven-time champion, but who knows what could happen this upcoming weekends
Did Lewis Hamilton post about the Ballon d’Or?
Regardless of his chances of winning, Hamilton will arrive in Sao Paulo buoyed by the support of the home crowd, who have adopted the Brit as one of their own in recent years.
In fact, the champion became an honorary citizen of Brazil in 2022, a proud moment for Hamilton who idolised Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna when he was growing up.
However, the innocent post attracted outcry from a certain sect of fans on social media, as they misinterpreted the F1 star’s post.
Football fans on X assumed he was posting in solidarity for Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, who is also Brazilian, and was overlooked for the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize this week – an award that is given to the best footballer of the year.
Many felt Vinicius Jr. was a contender, but Man City midfielder Rodri instead won the prize, with Real Madrid – Vinicius Jr’s team – reportedly boycotting the event as a result.
“It’s how neutrals all know that Vini Jr deserved the award. Only Messi, Spanish, Barcelona, City fans say otherwise. All other neutrals know it’s Vini,” one fan wrote, echoing the sentiment of many in Hamilton’s replies.
Another user, @jonesmbevi, also replied to Hamilton’s post: “Vini for the ballon D’or. Make it make sense that they had to not give him. Football is gone. Formula one is gone. What else do we have that is honest and real.? Sad.”
The above tweets represent the sentiment of a large amount of fans going crazy in the replies, posting that Vinicius Jr. had been ‘robbed’, with several pictures of the Brazilian player also shown.
However, one user @ahmed_baokbah was quick to point out the mistake and posted a tweet calling out the fans’ interpretations, and pointed out Hamilton was posting about the Brazilian GP weekend