"So glad he spoke up and didn’t just blame himself!": Fans react to Lewis Hamilton calling out FIA's "double standards" after F1 Mexico GP

Fans took to social media to share their reactions after Lewis Hamilton called out the FIA's "double standard" at the recently concluded Mexico GP. Hamilton, speaking to the media after the race, denounced his penalty and stated that he was let down by the F1 governing body.

During Sunday's race, Hamilton went head-to-head against Max Verstappen, and this was when the Ferrari driver incurred the penalty. The two drivers banged wheels, and at one point, Hamilton left the track, cut corners to gain a track position.

As a result, the FIA handed him a 10-second time penalty. Lewis Hamilton, who started his race from P3, had to serve the time during his pit stop, and came out in P14. Even though he recovered from there to come home in P8, but the damage was done.

After the race, a frustrated Lewis Hamilton appeared in front of the media, where he called out the governing body. Speaking in the post-race interview, here's what the British driver said:

"Ultimately I feel very let down by the governing body. It’s double standards as you can tell and it is what it is.”

After the interview surfaced on the internet, fans shared their reactions. Here are some of the reactions taken from the micro-blogging site, X, formerly Twitter:

A fan wrote, "So glad he spoke up and didn’t just blame himself!!" Another fan wrote, "Leclerc and Verstappen are allowed to cut corners, gain significant advantages, and keep their positions. The FIA is such a corrupt organization, it's just disgusting." "I honestly believe in 10-20 years, there is going to be a whistleblower that comes out and says there was a directive to give Lewis harsher penalties," another fan wrote. "The FIA is so biased against Lewis, it’s so obvious in their decisions this race. The corruption stinks to high heaven!" wrote another fan. A fan wrote, "Why does no other driver get slammed the way Lewis does? Come on, it’s not a difficult question, and it’s an even easier answer. It’s as clear as night and day, or maybe I should say black and white." Another fan wrote, "He needs to be more vocal about the Injustices or they will keep doing it to him. If he had been more vocal about 2021, we won’t be getting this treatment in 2025."

---

Lewis Hamilton after the race: "The penalty didn't make sense"

Lewis Hamilton not only denounced the penalty but also stated that the 10-second time penalty did not make sense for him. Speaking in the post-race interview, here's what the Ferrari driver further added:

Lewis Hamilton at the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Source: Getty

"I mean, that’s pretty much the same as all the other people around me, so… Didn’t make sense. Others cut it and held position and didn’t get penalties. It was pretty nuts.” “It felt like racing (with Max), I was fine there; it was just the cutting, and then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty. It was kind of nuts. 10 seconds, stop and go," he further added.

Notably, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen also cut corners, but they did not receive any penalties. Going by the footage of the race, Leclerc was involved in the first lap melee, while Verstappen dropped back and returned to the place he gained by cutting the corner.

Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas