The Hamilton brand goes beyond Formula 1, and indeed he is a truly brilliant ambassador to the sport, bringing F1 to those who might not ordinarily care about fast cars going in circles.
Not only is the very talented 5 time world Champion significantly better than many behind the wheel in the current crop of drivers (some say the best ever), but he also brings in big sponsorship bucks for his ability to broadcast his brand away from the track, often by social media.
A social media message that managed to not annoy Brazilians (too much)
Hamilton has made some errors in the past, and this is precisely why #TEAMLH or #LH44 (take your pick) has made a laughable error after the Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday.
Using Instagram, Hamilton or one of his PR team, decided to thank the Brazilian people for a fantastic race using the ‘Stories’ feature of the app. Unfortunately, whoever posted the well intentioned message, typed it out in Spanish rather than the national language of Portuguese.
Lewis Hamilton, Senna’s biggest fan and inspiration
The unfortunate faux par has added gravitas due to the fact that Lewis Hamilton claims he has a special affiliation with the Portuguese speaking Brazilian Champion, the late Ayrton Senna. Lewis says he gained inspiration to drive from Senna, and followed him religiously until his untimely demise in 1994.
One would think that the British number one and 5 time Champion might want to sign off any messages on his monstrously large social media reach? Or perhaps he did, after all the two languages when written down do look similar.
The problem is however, that it’s a common world misconception that Brazil speaks Spanish and not Portuguese – as most of central and southern America speak Spanish or dialects based on that language. Many Brazilians are irked by the mistake, a bit like Canadians being mistaken for those from the USA. Or Kiwi’s being told they sound like Australians.
Fan reaction
On Reddit, a user who says he’s a Portuguese speaker gives his opinion on the matter saying:
“As a Portuguese speaker I think this is funny as f*ck. However I don’t understand why Hamilton does these things.
“It seems like he tries too hard to be nice saying how much he loves the fans all over the world (seems like every country has the best fans ever) or trying to speak a language he doens’t understand. That’s unnecessary. He doens’t need to please everybody.”
Perhaps he’s right, perhaps not. After all, the message was well intentioned but it does highlight that Lewis should perhaps be more aware of what his PR team are doing in his name.
You’d think his ‘crash in to massa’ season would’ve learned him some Portuguese words… 😘😂
I find it laughable that anybody thinks this guy is the best British driver ever, never mind best of all time.
As Schumacher proved countless times, having the largest numbers beside your name means statistically you are the most successful, doesn’t make you the greatest.
Lewis was beaten by Nico Rosberg, who figures on nobody’s top ten list of greats. Nico won with the same dominant car that Lewis has driven when everybody else was hampered with their mounts.
Only in 2017 and 2018 could it be claimed Mercedes have had opposition yet still they have won emphatically.
In my opinion, Lewis has been remarkable this year but even so, most people accept/ acknowledge that Alonso would have beaten him in either car.
As to Brazil? I doubt they think much of Hamilton despite his ‘adoration’ of Senna.
It is laughable that someone would think that a message in spanish rather than portuguese is an error even worth discussing. The irrational hatred of lewis must be so deep that you are reducing to scratching for utter bollocks! PR disaster? Go get a life for ffs!
And despite your moronic ramblings, only the most shameful and unhinged commentators deny his unparralled achievements. As to your idiotic and wishful assertion that Alonso would beat him, well he couldn’t beat him when he was a rookie in 2007, what chance does he have now?
Well… If you say you are a big fan of Senna and say you love Brazil one might expect you know the language that is being spoken, especially if you visit the country each year… Now it all seems quite silly and a bit ignorant.
Has nothing to do with hatred. The reaction of the Reddit user says it best.
Jeez! Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. Let it go! Such error is unworthy of deeper analysis unless you are a pathetic hatred troll. Seriously, you need to get a life!
What if you live the life of a pathetic hatred troll? Perhaps that’s all what the writer’s life is about.
Pfff think about your bloodpressure, the only one i see making a big fuzz about it is you. Talking about pathetic..
The spanish text was hilarious, you getting all serious and all hyped up even more so.
its true that Brazilians aren’t overly keen on Lewis