Lewis Hamilton Clears ‘Negative Narrative’ Surrounding FIA Criticism at Monaco GP

Lewis Hamilton and the FIA have had a war of words over the past few races. It all started with a disagreement over jewelry in Australia, as the Race Director had asked drivers to remove it. Since then, the exchange has not been pretty. However, this time around in Monaco, Hamilton is of the opinion that the FIA did a great job over the weekend. 

Lewis Hamilton takes to Instagram story to clear the air

Taking to his Instagram story, the seven-time world champion had some words to say. He wrote, “So the media are saying I criticised the FIA for the last race but it’s absolute rubbish. I thought they did a great job at the weekend.”

“Could we have started the race when it was meant to, probably but then they would have had to stop it soon after. We race when it was safe and that’s what’s most important. Please don’t use me to create a negative narrative.”

Lewis Hamilton’s response comes at a time when news media had uploaded that he had criticized the FIA over the start of the Monaco Grand Prix. Many reported that Lewis was of the opinion that the race could have started on time.

He also felt that sports drivers are more than capable of dealing with difficult conditions.  “I don’t know the reason for them not sending us out at the get-go, but we are Formula One drivers so [the weather] is not a good enough reason,” he was reported to have said. 

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“I was like ‘let’s go’ when it was just drizzling a little bit at the beginning. We will talk about it in the drivers’ briefing but we should have started the race.”

Why did the FIA delay the start of the Monaco Grand Prix?

The FIA had a crucial decision to make on Sunday regarding the race. Sunday’s race was delayed by 70 minutes after a heavy downpour. But many believe that the governing body should have started the race. 

However, the FIA had explained why there were delays. The cars did two formation laps under the Safety Car before they were called to the pits. Furthermore, they also clarified that a power cut was responsible for taking out the start systems. 

When questioned why the drivers had to do a rolling start rather than a standing start, the FIA had an answer. They believed that some drivers would be disadvantaged by wet asphalt while others were on dry tires.  

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The 2022 Monaco Grand Prix was full of incidents and more dramatic than the one in 2021. After the start, Haas’ Mick Schumacher crashed out bringing out the red flag. After the barriers were repaired, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez went on to take a historic win. 

Do let us know in the comment section if the FIA were right in delaying the start of the race.