Why Was Lewis Hamilton Waving the Brazilian Flag Despite Being a British National?

Lewis Hamilton drove brilliantly at the Brazilian Grand Prix. In Saturday’s sprint race, the Mercedes driver started from the back of the grid and finished fifth.

Additionally, the Knight displayed a spectacular drive in Sunday’s race. A grid penalty saw Hamilton start the race in tenth place, but he fought his arch-rival Max Verstappen to claim victory at Interlagos.

The 7-times world champion was over the moon and took the Brazilian flag as he zipped around the track on his cooldown lap. But many people were confused – why was Hamilton waving the Brazilian flag when he is British?

The reason Britain’s Lewis Hamilton was waving the Brazilian flag

Silverstone is Hamilton’s home race, and there is always a huge crowd supporting the Brit as he battles his rivals on the track. But the same atmosphere was present in Sao Paulo, which made Lewis’ win even sweeter. Hence, in order to show his appreciation, Hamilton waved the Brazilian flag as he zipped around Interlagos.

Additionally, the Mercedes driver is a huge fan of Ayrton Senna; an F1 icon, and a hero to Brazilians, so it could be one of the factors, that Hamilton waved the Brazilian flag thinking about his idol.

In the post-race interview, he said, “I’m so grateful for the incredible support I’ve had this weekend. I’ve not had it since like Silverstone was when I had my own… a good group of support, but since then it’s been really difficult. So to hear these throughout the weekend has been really humbling. I’ve been saying ‘obrigado, Brazil’. I’m so, so grateful, as I said. What a race.”

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Can Hamilton close the gap to Verstappen?

Hamiton was hoping to catch his arch-rival, Verstappen, in the title by winning the Brazilian GP. The Knight was true to his word and defeated the Red Bull driver to bag twenty-five points.

Now the gap between the two title contenders is just 14 points. With the race in Qatar just a week away, Hamilton would aim for another win, and overtake the Dutch drive in the driver’s championship.

With just three races remaining till the end of the season, who do you think will lay their hands on the title? Will it be the Mercedes’ Hamilton or Red Bul”s Verstappen? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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