The off-season drama continues. The FIA is under severe scrutiny after the withdrawn investigation into Susie Wolff, and Mercedes personnel in particular are not particularly happy. While they may have been able to avoid drama if the two sides of the conflict weren’t scheduled to make a public appearance, they had to do just that. During the recently concluded awards ceremony, Lewis Hamilton let his stand known.

He was all set to receive the third-place award in the World Drivers’ Championships, and he received it with grace. The seven-time world champion praised Red Bull and their driver duo, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, for having a “flawless” season. He also provided some hope for the Merc fans, stating that they are looking well on their way to closing the gap next season. However, these statements did not catch the fan’s attention.

Later, after the end of the awards ceremony, he gave the trophy away to a random fan in the audience. A picture of the trophy on a white table at the arena made its rounds online, leading people to think that Lewis Hamilton had abandoned his trophy in the arena. Later, the lucky recipient posted a picture of the trophy on top of his fireplace, explaining to the world what really happened; No, Lewis did not abandon his trophy, he just gave it away to a lucky fan.

Read more: Lewis Hamilton Slams Fernando Alonso & Co’s “Copy Car” Years after the Pink Mercedes Saga

Further adding confusion to the whole situation, Mercedes is now claiming that Hamilton neither abandoned the trophy nor gave it away. The Brit had given it to an event organization staff, who promised that the trophy would be delivered to the team. What actually occurred, at this point, only Hamilton would know.

Whether he gave it away or not, some fans immediately took to seeing this as a message that showed Hamilton’s unhappiness with the FIA. Hamilton has not yet made any explicit statements about the trophy, so we may never really know what his intentions were.

Lewis Hamilton creates a Twitter frenzy

Hamilton’s “statement” obviously created a lot of attention on Twitter. Fans, at this point, we aren’t aware of the Mercedes announcement. They went straight into commenting about how much of a badass Lewis Hamilton was.

Some fans didn’t really like the way the trophy looked and used that as a justification to abandon the trophy at the event.

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Of course, not all fans took it lightly. Some fans did find it offensive to the institution that has been integral to the growth of the sport, irrespective of recent events.

However, it is also equally easy to imagine how if someone were to mess with the legend, he wouldn’t be afraid to pull any punches bag, as noted by this fan.

Whatever the truth may be, at this point, we won’t really know. However, Mercedes did announce that he had given the trophy to be delivered to the team, and hopefully, it’s just a case of misunderstanding that’s out quite soon. Just like how we’re hoping the situation between the Mercedes team principal and FIA is sorted soon.

WATCH THIS STORY: Lewis Hamilton remains unwavering in his determination to halt Max Verstappen’s dominance, despite enduring significant neglect from the FIA

But tell us, what do you really think happened? Did Lewis send a not-so-subtle message to FIA? Or was it just an honest mistake?