Hamilton "only human" after deleting controversial vaccine conspiracy theory post

Lewis Hamilton has conceded to being "only human" after mistakenly appearing to criticise Bill Gates for lying over a Covid-19 vaccine.

The six-time F1 champion initially shared a video of Gates to his 18.3million Instagram followers, that was originally posted by internet personality King Bach [Andrew Bachelor], in which the Microsoft co-founder denies that any future vaccine being developed, via the aid of his Foundation, would contain a tracking device that would allow its recipients to be monitored.

Hamilton claims he failed to spot within the post a line from Bach that reads 'I remember when I told my first lie', along with a laughing emoji.

Hamilton's re-post sparked a backlash on social media, leading to the 35-year-old removing it from Instagram before then clarifying his position with a subsequent message on the channel.

"Hi guys. I’ve noticed some comments on my earlier post around the coronavirus vaccine, and want to clarify my thoughts on it, as I understand why they might have been misinterpreted," wrote Hamilton.

“Firstly, I hadn’t actually seen the comment attached so that is totally my fault and I have a lot of respect for the charity work Bill Gates does. I also want to be clear that I’m not against a vaccine and no doubt it will be important in the fight against coronavirus, and I’m hopeful for its development to help save lives.

“However after watching the video, I felt it showed that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the side effects most importantly and how it is going to be funded. I may not always get my posting right, I’m only human but I’m learning as we go. Sending you positivity."