Astroman

Only if you thought it was wrong that Lewis skipped what was evidently the most important GALA in the history of all galas. BUT THE GALA!!! Lewis skipped THE GALA!!!

multi21

Do you realize that it is mandated in the FIA Sporting Regulations that the top 3 drivers in a series must attend or face penalties? Do you also realize that manufacturers must present their championship winning cars at the FIA awards presentation and Mercedes not only did not present their WCC F1 car but their cars in other FIA race series? Surely you must think that's a bit childish on the part of Toto and Lewis.

Further, now that Toto and Lewis have had Masi fired, I'm still waiting for the new FIA president to drop the hammer on Hamilton as he was in clear violation of the Sporting Regs, but both Toto and Lewis are on a media blitz to talk about race stewards being friends with drivers.... please...

I'm not even going to breach the political reference as that is just ridiculous thing to bring up in a thread like this.

Astroman

Good idea.

dgrobs

Hence the sarcasm in my regretful post…

Manifold

It's called a gala, but it's an official F1 event, and there are requirements for attendance. There's also symbolism of sportsmanship in attending, and I believe Lewis' runner-ups always attended each of the 7 times Lewis won. By Lewis not attending, it was a snub to Max, as though Max didn't deserve to be WDC - very poor sportsmanship on Lewis' part. He talks about 'ending racism', but frankly he's making black people look bad with his behavior.

DTMiller

Ooooof.

Astroman

Yikes!

dgrobs

Manny,

If you delete your original post, I will delete this one and maybe the others who quoted you will also delete.

Not the right place for this (as I quickly learned with my Bubba Wallace post a ways back).

tgibrit

Really, take your medication. This is a sporting issue, nothing more, nothing less.

flatsics

thebishman

And there it is. Wow!

dgrobs

Luigi, can you post a picture of that train wreck again?

Thanks in advance pal.

Manifold

Yes, I said it and I stand by my statement. Why are we so afraid to talk about the issue of race?

Lewis is black, or at least half black, and has intentionally made himself a representative for the good cause of ending racism. So, guess what, people are going to pay close attention to his behavior, as a representative of black people and that cause. If Lewis even hints that he's being treated unfairly by the F1 officials because he's black (he hasn't explicitly suggested any other reason), but he's not actually being discriminated against by the F1 officials because he's black, then his playing the victim does a disservice to the people who are actually discriminated against based on race - when the boy keeps crying wolf, people will stop listening to boy and not pay attention to when there's actually a wolf. Even if Lewis doesn't hint that he was discriminated against due to racism, he is still the only black driver on the F1 grid and a 7-time WDC, and therefore very much in the spotlight, so people will look at his behavior as a representative of black people, whether likes being in that role or not.

As a non-white person (who has sometimes been mistaken for being black), I'm embarrassed and disappointed by Lewis' behavior. I wish he would behave like a champion and role model, including when he loses.

flatsics

You just called a black man a "boy"...wow. You are really hitting it out of the park today.

LuigiVampa

In fairness, Lewis has made the issue of racism his most important cause. It is only because of the restrictions of this forum that we cannot debate how his views on race and racism tends to define many of his grievances.