Hamilton responds to Mercedes social media backlash

Lewis Hamilton has defended Mercedes and team-mate George Russell following social media backlash after the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Brackley-based squad came close to securing its first victory of the year, with Russell crossing the line just over four seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen.

Mercedes has struggled for form across the last two years, winning just one grand prix since the start of 2022.

Hamilton called on fans to issue support to Mercedes rather than being critical as it attempts to improve its on-track form.

“If you look up the years we’ve always been a strong team, we’ve worked really hard together,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365.

“I think it is easy to get emotional, I even commented in the last race, for example, just about my performance.

“I think we need support, not negativity. I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing negativity, George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and delivered for the team.

“Of course, there can always be things done better within the team and that comes through conversation, through communication and that's something that we’re consistently working on.

“But we're all in the same boat, we’re all working together. We want to finish on a high. And I feel like we owe that to our long-term relationship.”

Russell concedes reality of social media

Russell mirrored Hamilton's call for support but conceded that social media scrutiny is the reality of the current world.

“Personally, I don't look on Instagram or Twitter, to be honest,” he said.

“I still sort of control my own account, all of the content that goes out is through me and the captions, everything is all of my messaging.

“I think social media is really a double-edged sword. There are so many funny things that you see on social media and it keeps you up to date with so much but then on the flip side, it’s not just myself, but everybody [is] in the limelight.

“There seems to be negativity pointed towards them. And like Lewis said, you want to feel the support, not giving out negativity to others.

“It's not something I've seen, I've heard about it. Of course, it's never nice to hear this stuff. 

“But that's unfortunately the world we live in at the moment and any person in the public eye is facing.”