Lewis Hamilton causes controversy with 'anti-vax' post

Lewis Hamilton celebrating the Hungarian GP win.
Lewis Hamilton has apologised after accidentally sharing an Instagram video opposing Bill Gates and his funding to find a vaccine for the coronavirus. (Getty Images)

F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been forced to apologise and strongly denies he is against a coronavirus vaccine after he shared a video taking aim at Bill Gates.

The billionaire founder of Microsoft has continued his charity work and donated $3.6 million to a South Korean pharmaceutical company to help find a vaccine for Covid-19.

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But accompanied with the video he shared, the caption - not from Hamilton - read: 'I remember when I told my first lie'.

The video was shared via Hamilton’s Instagram story, but was soon deleted after the F1 champion noticed the comments from his fans.

Social media users frantically jumped online to discuss why Hamilton had shared the video and if he was an anti-vaxxer.

The video was later deleted from Hamilton's story and the 25-year-old published a swift apology and claimied he had not seen the caption.

‘A lot of respect for Gates’: Hamilton apologises

Hamilton said he had a lot of respect for Gates and his philanthropy and he stressed he was not against a vaccine for the coronavirus.

"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," the post said.

"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.

Lewis Hamilton's apology after accidentally sharing an anti-xaxxer post. (Instagram)
Lewis Hamilton's apology after accidentally sharing an anti-xaxxer post. (Instagram)

"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."