Is the FIA Against Lewis Hamilton?
by Austin S, Year 12
In recent races the question “Is the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile0 against Lewis Hamilton?” has certainly become a talking point for many. For any of those who follow F1, there have been some questionable incidents over the years, notably Abu Dhabi 2021 and, more recently, Mexico 2025.
Who is Lewis Hamilton?
Sir Lewis Hamilton is a British F1 racing driver who currently races for Ferrari but is more famously known for his stint at Mercedes (2013-2024). He is the only black driver in F1 and came from a working-class family in Stevenage. Having debuted with McLaren and being 1 championship point off winning the championship, he rapidly gained popularity and had the most successful rookie season. He is currently a 7-time world champion and is known as the best racing driver of all time. Beyond racing, he became a global icon for diversity, environmentalism, and social justice.
Previous unfair racing incidents:
To mention the obvious first, Abu Dhabi 2021… This title-deciding final race began with both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (title contenders) on equal points. The race started with an early overtake from Hamilton on Verstappen, putting him into the lead, which he held comfortably throughout. However, on Lap 53 of 58, Nicholas Latifi (Williams) crashed, bringing out a Safety Car. Hamilton stayed out on old hard tyres whilst Verstappen pitted for new soft tyres. With there being only a few laps left and so many cars lapped through rules and regulations, the race should have finished under the safety car, giving Hamilton his record-breaking 8th World Title.
Normally, all lapped cars must un-lap themselves before the Safety Car can end. Initially, Race Director Michael Masi said no lapped cars would be allowed through. However, Masi later changed his mind, allowing only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to un-lap themselves, meaning Verstappen was directly behind Hamilton for a final lap restart. This decision was a complete change of rules from what was expected. This controversial decision meant Verstappen was able to overtake Hamilton in the first corner on his fresher rubber and keep position to the line, crowning him 2021 World Champion. All protests from Mercedes during and after the incident were refused. It was only in March 2022 that the FIA acknowledged the incident, calling it ‘human error’, and Michael Masi was fired. However, this response is no excuse for the robbery of a historical 8th world title. This decision undermined the sports integrity and led to many reforms in how FIA decisions were made.
A more recent example of this is the Mexico Grand Prix 2025. Hamilton received a 10-second penalty for cutting the grass in a corner. Through analysis, Hamilton deserved this penalty. The controversy was more around the lack of consistency when concerning other drivers' penalties. Charles Leclerc (Lewis’ teammate) similarly cut the grass yet didn’t receive a penalty for overtaking Hamilton off the track. The FIA called for ‘no further investigation’, even though analysis by Jolyon Palmer (previous F1 driver) after the weekend proved he deserved a penalty. Had Leclerc's penalty been given, Hamilton may not have been in the situation that caused his penalty had the FIA responded fairly. There was also some controversy over Max leaving the track but it was put down to ‘no further investigation’.
Tension between Hamilton and the FIA:
After the race in Mexico, Hamilton, like his fans, felt this was an unfair ruling and called for “more transparency and accountability” from the FIA. This isn’t the first time Hamilton has openly criticised the FIA’s leadership; for example, he said of President Mohammed Ben Sulayem that he “never has” his support, in the context of broader governance issues.
Another moment of tension between Hamilton and the FIA involved the 2022 jewellery ban. The FIA instructed drivers not to wear jewellery during races for safety reasons. Hamilton protested, saying his necklace had personal and cultural significance. Hamilton felt like enforcing the ban showed a lack of respect for his identity. Eventually he complied, the best he could due to some unremovable piercings. This incident highlighted tension over regulations impacting personal expression.
There was also tension between Hamilton and current FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. One of the reasons is from 2024, when the FIA president made a comment saying, “We’re not rappers” when referring to swearing on team radios. As the only black driver in F1, Hamilton was one of many drivers to condemn his comments, feeling there was a racial link. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association later issued a collective statement criticising Ben Sulayem's "tone and language" and demanding to be treated like adults. This overall incident was one of a few that added a rift between the relationship of Lewis Hamilton and the FIA president, a possible reason for bias moving forward.
Evidence against them being directly against Lewis Hamilton:
Firstly, there has never been concrete evidence proving that FIA officials have intentionally targeted Hamilton. This is all speculation, but to many followers of the sport, the incidents are becoming more of a trend than just coincidence compared to other drivers.
In addition to this, all FIA race stewards operate on occasional rotations, so whilst there are 3 permanent members, sometimes the other couple on the panel are rotated. This can remove a little uncertainty, but one from the panel has to be a driver to get a driver’s perspective. From these past choices, 3 of the 5 main drivers used have had tensions with Hamilton; although minor, it is still something to take into consideration.
Due to Lewis Hamilton’s fame and influence, it could be argued that any decision made against him is going to be taken with some assumption of bias because no one wants to admit their favourite driver has done wrong. These controversial calls have been made to many other high-profile drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen (both 4-time world champions). Vettel lost a win in Canada in 2019 due to a time penalty most commentators called harsh. Whilst Verstappen was controversially penalised for overtaking off-track in 2017 and again in 2019. These situations highlight instead the lack of consistency within the FIA, something that has been questioned for years, rather than personal targeting.
Conclusion:
Overall, I believe that, yes, the FIA is against Lewis Hamilton, but not specifically him to an unacceptable rate; this opposition at some part of the FIA is to be expected. Hamilton is an individual with much influence, and past moments of tension are expected to cause bitterness. 2021 Abu Dhabi is hard to ignore; although possibly being a one-time incident, it still leads to an expectation of bias regarding him from the fans. These specific incidents occur a few times a year, and, when tracked, might come back as just above average. To claim that a federation as big as the FIA is racist or shows unnecessary bias to a specific driver is foolish. Despite having internal issues over big members refusing to give up control, the flow of individuals is quite frequent, which removes the likelihood that there is some permanent opposition. In addition to this, previous moments of tension have been minimal; despite Hamilton’s influence, the FIA have created enough dislike for themselves in other ways in the past, so holding a grudge against Hamilton doesn’t seem feasible.
