British publication faces fan backlash for running a fake Helmut Marko quote about Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris
Fans targeted popular F1 presenter Martin Brundle as he discussed a fake quote about Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris that has been floating on social media. The quote is said to have originated from social media accounts and made it to a professional discussion.
The championship battle between McLaren and Red Bull peaked this season giving the fans a fresh fight for the first time since 2021. While the latter has now dropped to third in the Constructors' Championship, Max Verstappen is still leading the Drivers' title.
Amid this, a reportedly fake quote said to be from RBR's advisor Dr Helmut Marko spread on social media. It mentioned that if Lewis Hamilton was driving the McLaren instead of Lando Norris, Verstappen would have lost the title. However, this quote is fake and no such comment was originally shared.
But, Martin Brundle, F1 presenter with Sky Sports, was discussing the quote with Craig Slater during a show, treating it as authentic.
Fans found it hilarious that a large organization like this particular British publication could make a mistake like this. A user wrote:
"Sky discussing a fake quote attributed to Marko is a bit embarrassing tbf."
"It’s wild how such quotes or rumours make it into the mainstream," another comment mentioned.
"Picked the worst possible time to make that error," wrote a fan.
Some users also said that the publication fell for the "bait" that was set up on social media likely to gain likes.
"Bait was so good it made it to sky sports," a fan mentioned.
"Ahahahah you are the man. Sky Sports failing for this nonsense," another comment read.
One comment read:
Lewis Hamilton reviews his tough race weekend in Brazil
Lewis Hamilton faced a tough weekend at Sao Paulo, complaining about the ride of the Mercedes W15 and battling hard for the final points finish on Sunday.
The drenched track posed a challenge for all drivers, and although Max Verstappen was able to move up from P17 to P1, Lewis Hamilton was stuck with the difficult handling of his car. He kept informing the team about the poor state of the car throughout the race.
Reviewing his weekend, Hamilton said (via Mirror):
"It is devastating to have these bad races in the second half of the season. But all I can say is that we're trying coming into the weekends, but it is definitely not acceptable, it is definitely not good enough.
"We have to take accountability, I have to take accountability, but I am driving and doing the best with what I have got. The car has been the worst [in Brazil], and I don't know what it is, we're going to have to find out what it is."
Hamilton appreciated the engineers and mechanics for working on the car throughout the weekend. He also held out a ray of hope for the team as he talked about extracting more potential from the car.
"But the mechanics did a great job in getting here and doing practice stops at 4am, and with all the work they've done on the car throughout the weekend, one of the cars was working a lot better, so there is obviously potential."
Lewis Hamilton is currently in his final season with Mercedes. He will move to Ferrari in 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz. He is expected to battle for his eighth World Championship given the Scuderia's current form on the track.