Lewis Hamilton is coming off a strong performance at the Monaco GP, but a clip from his appearance on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast is grabbing attention for all the wrong reasons.

The clip from 2023 shows the seven-time World Champion talking about the wealth gap in today’s society and how much wealth is acceptable for one to have. 

He said, “One of the things that I struggle with every day is how life isn't fair. There is such a disparity between the wealthy and the poor. When you drive around LA, there are still so many people living on the streets. This shouldn't be the case; you shouldn't be able to have billions. 

I think there should be a limit to how much you can have because there's enough to go around for everyone. Somehow, creating a law that promotes more equality and equal access for everyone is important.” 

Unsurprisingly, this has prompted reactions from people online. Many people on X unanimously seemed to disagree with the driver and took digs at him.

A user on X discussed Hamilton’s decision to live in Monaco to avoid paying personal income or capital gains taxes. They said, ”Dude is worth $500M+ and lives in Monaco to avoid ever paying a penny in tax, lol.”

Another user cited the driver’s association with Perplexity AI, despite his well-known intentions regarding carbon neutrality and the fact that he sold his private jet. They said, “So if he's content with his wealth, why did he betray his stance on the environment and became an AI ambassador?”

There was a comment that mentioned double standards on Hamilton’s part and also highlighted an assumed percentage of his charity contributions against his net worth. 

The user wrote, “Funny how a middle-class famous person will talk about millionaires & billionaires not existing, but suddenly when they become millionaire, the word millionaire goes missing in their vocabulary, then it's just the billionaires. Btw, his charity isn't even 10% of his wealth.”

Another user on X added an inconsistency in Hamilton’s argument, suggesting that understanding economic inequality doesn't automatically lead to a call for shame or guilt among those with financial success. "It’s quite the leap to go from “there is a wealth disparity” to “the wealthy should feel guilty about it.”

One user simply connected the dots to his relationship, saying, “His girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, is a billionaire by the way.” 

Speaking of Kim Kardashian, she was at the Monaco GP, and she is also grabbing attention, not for good reasons. 

When Kim Kardashian ignored Martin Brundle

The former F1 driver and presenter, well known for his grid walks, approached many celebrities for a quick chat at the Monaco GP, some of whom included Karen Gillan, Cynthia Erivo, and Prince Salman of Bahrain. Karen Gillan, in particular, was also seen interacting with Oliver Bearman before the race. 

However, when he approached Kim with a general question, he received no response as the Skims owner passed a brief smile at him before turning away. His second attempt at an interaction was also fruitless. 

In other clips, Kardashian was also seen accidentally grabbing the towel intended for Kimi Antonelli to use. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old driver scored his fifth consecutive win of the season and notably led the race for all 78 laps. 

Read more at Motor Culture! 

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason