Lewis Hamilton explains “messed up/giving up” social media post

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has explained the reasons behind his social media post that caused a stir in October, talking about the world being “messed up” and how he felt like “giving up on everything”.

After the Japanese Grand Prix in October Hamilton took to Instagram to express his concerns about climate crisis, facing backlash from some people whilst also gaining support for his views.
 
He defended himself in Mexico about the posts and admits that there is “a lot of questioning” about anything that he does in his life.
 
"Most of the time, I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it was an emotional post, which is not always good to do. It just felt like I was banging my head against the wall and not gaining ground,” he told BBC Sport.

"There is a lot of push-back on a lot of things I do, and a lot of questioning of everything I do and say. You live your life under a magnifying glass. And the pressure for anyone that's in the limelight… we're only human, so at some stage you're going to buckle a little bit.

"But I always say it's not how you fall, it's how you get back up. And I really turned that negativity into a positive and came back and won that next race. 

"And you'll probably see if you look back in the history of the times I've often had those difficult phases, I've often won the next races. That's where my strength lies."

Hamilton’s goes on to say how he is trying to be more open about his life, and that showing vulnerability is only a positive to help his following see the real him.

"I would say I have a very complex life. I'm sure we all have complex lives. But I can't talk about absolutely how complex it is,” he added.

"I am trying to be more open about that, as you'll see on my social. But there is a line where it's the limit and for me personally that one there was slightly over the limit.

"But I don't regret it. Because I think for those who are following me and are on this journey with me, I don't think showing vulnerability is always a bad thing. They can just see I'm human at the end of the day."