The annual FIA prize-giving ceremony brought a lot of drama to the F1 paddock amidst comments and statements flying around the long-awaited gala. Lewis Hamilton himself caused quite the disruption, making comments criticizing the FIA for their Susie Wolff investigation and complimenting his rival Max Verstappen.

Hamilton’s time in the spotlight didn’t end there, however, as rumors shot around social media that the seven-time champion had handed away his trophy for third place in the championship to a random fan. However, his team Mercedes quickly put an end to the rumors, saying the Briton did no such thing.

Lewis Hamilton accepted the offer from officials for the trophy to be sent on to the team and therefore left it in their care. We can confirm he did not give the trophy to anyone ‘as a gift’ as has been speculated. 

A Mercedes represenataive said via a note.

#Mercedes note:
Immediately after leaving the stage, and as has been done at previous prizegivings, @LewisHamilton accepted the offer from officials for the trophy to be sent on to the team and therefore left it in their care. We can confirm he did not give the trophy to anyone…

— Giuliano Duchessa (@GiulyDuchessa) December 10, 2023

Lewis Hamilton has long been a significant influence on the annual gala, making headlines by missing it in 2021. Hamilton had been in the middle of getting over controversially losing the championship, skipping the event in protest of the situation. The Mercedes driver was later fined $50,000 for the incident and the money was used for charitable causes.

Mercedes technical director James Allison says sidepods aren’t the solution

Mercedes infamously adopted the no-sidepod concept in 2022, the only team in the entire grid to do so. Sidepods are formations at the side of a car for aerodynamic benefit, which Mercedes neglected to go for a different car concept. The Brackley-based team kept the concept until the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.

Mercedes eventually realized sidepods were not helping them compete with the frontrunners, so got rid of them. Even this kept them behind the dominant Red Bull, however, and the team could not win a single race in 2023. Mercedes technical director James Allison said that while the sidepods were part of the problem, the entire car’s development was the issue that needed to be changed.

We definitely took a path with our car and I would say that’s from the tip of the nose to the very back of the tail which was not a competitive one. The most visually notable aspect of that was our sidepods of course, but by no means the definitive factor.

James Allison said, as reported by planetf1

Mercedes has gone with an entirely different concept for the W15, which is yet to be revealed. With the man responsible for the zero sidepod concept in the first place, Mike Elliott, gone, the team will be focusing on a wholly different aerodynamic package in the hopes of challenging the Adrian Newey-designed RB20.

In case you missed it:

• Lewis Hamilton proclaims his ‘full faith’ Mercedes W15 after factory visit 
• Max Verstappen predicts the state of F1 in ten years, claims he ‘will no longer be there’

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