Lewis Hamilton was easily the most talked about man during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, but for all the wrong reasons.
The McLaren driver has become increasingly active on Twitter over the past few months. Prior to that, he posted the odd ‘tweet’ during a race weekend. The majority of which sounded like the usual PR crap.
However with greater activity has come greater insight and the real Hamilton has begun to shine through, something which is often difficult to achieve for a celebrity in the public spotlight, forced to watch what they write with great care.
If the media and critics aren’t bashing Hamilton for his ‘gangsta speak’, they’re reading far too much in to what he’s saying and twisting those words to create so-called news stories.
The beauty of Twitter is that it allows anyone, anywhere, the ability to express themselves whether angry, happy, excited or [insert emotion].
Hamilton, remember, is just 27-years-old. That’s young. Yes he’s in the public spotlight and should set an example to those around him, but why should he pretend to be someone he’s not?
I, for one, would much rather read tweets which express emotion, show a side we don’t necessarily see on the television and avoid the scripted rubbish we can read almost anywhere else.
Did Hamilton overstep the mark on Saturday with his ‘WTF’ and ‘H.A.M’ abbreviated-slang? Of course he didn’t. It may have been wiser to opt for a cleaner way of expressing his feelings, but he was probably pretty angry/upset seeing his team-mate absolutely dominate the field when, on most occasions, he is the one dominating Jenson Button on single lap pace.
Did Hamilton overstep the mark on Sunday when he tweeted telemetry from his and Button’s car? Definitely. He should never have shared such information without clearing it with the team.
Admittedly such a tweet is going to cause a stur amongst fans and the media. Indeed it did. I was however surprised to read tweets condeming Hamilton’s behaviour for his comments on Saturday and Sunday.
No doubt the unnecessary condemnation will curb Hamilton’s online activity, which if I’m honest, is a great loss as he’s shared some terrific stuff these past few months.
He does however need to learn where the line is and when not to cross it – he discovered it on Sunday – but here’s to hoping McLaren don’t mute his account for fear of their corporate image.
