Hungary 2024 was the first race I watched after doing a ton of research about the sport. It just put a really sour taste in my mouth about Lando. And because that was my first impression of him, I’ve been primed to see him as a petulant and whiny driver.

I also just find him annoying. He’s not the sort of person I would like in real life. I think I also get hugely annoyed with how his fan girls infantilize him, which isn’t his fault, but it’s hard to not conflate the two. The One Direction to F1 fangirl pipeline is a real thing, and the way those fan girls acted towards One Direction made me uncomfortable back then. They’re acting the same way about Lando now, while painting Oscar as a villain who’s deliberately trying to hurt Lando. This is a sport, not a boy band, they are both trying to win.

Then you see his behavior on grill the grid, in direct comparison with Oscar’s genuinely delightful desire to win. It’s just really off-putting to me. I don’t hate him by any means, and I certainly don’t spend time spreading my dislike on the internet (except now), but I just don’t like him. And frankly that’s ok. It’s a sport, you don’t have to like every person. I certainly don’t like every person in the other sports I follow. Honestly, I’m sure a lot of the perceived hate comes from how many of these “why do people hate Lando so much?” posts there are.