Record world champion Lewis Hamilton is only too happy to show many different facets of himself on social networks. He posts pictures from vacation, in stylish outfits, with his family and friends, from the race track or during training. He often shows off his strong upper body to his more than 32 million Instagram followers and generates millions of clicks with his topless pictures. In the Formula 1 circus, these pictures are now more likely to cause worry lines.
The reason for this is a strange “nude curse” by Lewis Hamilton, which is dubbed the “Thirst Trap” in the English media.
In the past few months, there have been several examples of a far-reaching personnel decision in Formula 1 being made shortly after a topless photo of F1 record winner Hamilton.
In the calendar year 2022 alone there were four prominent cases that caused the mysterious curse:
- Daniel Ricciardo lost his McLaren cockpit for 2023
- Nicholas Latifi lost his Williams cockpit for 2023 in September
- Mick Schumacher lost his Haas cockpit for 2023 in November
- Mattia Binotto resigns as Ferrari team boss in November
All decisions were announced immediately after Lewis Hamilton’s Instagram posts where he showed a lot of bare skin.
Is it all coincidence? Probably yes. However, the “Thirst Trap” struck again this year. Important personnel changes have been announced at Mercedes – James Allison is now Technical Director and Mike Elliot the new Chief Technical Officer. Again, just shortly after the 38-year-old posted one of his now infamous topless pics.
So perhaps the week leading up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is particularly tense. Reason: Hamilton posted another topless photo on Tuesday.
The reactions in the comment columns followed promptly: “Ok, someone’s going to lose their job this week!” or “Better put something on, you know what happens” was read under the picture.
