When Lewis Hamilton’s ‘racist’ ALI G joke backfired at Monaco GP

Lewis Hamilton has been on the receiving end of racist comments a lot of times during the course of his career, with one coming recently by Nelson Piquet. The three time world champion had referred to Hamilton using the N-word during a podcast, followed up by homophobic slanderous comment. The seven time world champion responded by saying that this is not the first time he’s facing something of this sort.

The Mercedes driver has always been vocal about how much he was racially abused during his karting days, but had to fight through it to get to the top. To bring a meaningful change in this aspect, he has also recently started a joint initiative with Mercedes to promote diversity within motorsport. He feels that no other kid should go through what he had to go through.

But, one time when Lewis Hamilton got it all wrong was after the Monaco GP, 2011. The Brit was not happy after he was penalized by the stewards thrice in a matter of two days. He didn’t like the punishment awarded to him and said that it was done so because he was black and had nothing to do with the way he drove or conducted himself during the Grand Prix.

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Throwback to when Lewis Hamilton’s ‘joke’ against the stewards backfired

In the post race interview, he had said, “Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says. I don’t know.” Taking a swipe at Felipe Massa, Lewis said, “Massa held me up in qualifying and I got the penalty. Then he turned into me [during the race] and I got the penalty. I was quite a lot quicker than Massa. These drivers are ridiculous. It’s stupid.”

But later on accepted his mistake and apologized by saying, “I’ve just been to the stewards to make peace. It was a bit of a joke, which wasn’t funny at the time. I made them aware that when emotions are high, and it’s very intense at the end of those kind of races, you don’t always say the right thing, and the joke [the reference to his colour] didn’t come at the most appropriate time.”

“They accepted my explanation, they understood. We all shook hands afterwards. They said it was a tough weekend, let’s move on, and they all wished me well for the season.”

It was understandable for any driver to feel frustrated after a weekend which didn’t go his way but still there is a responsibility on them to choose their words. But, thankfully, Lewis Hamilton has learnt his lesson and never repeated that mistake.

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