F1 leader Hamilton no longer a follower on Instagram

By Abhishek Takle

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton leads the way in Formula One and the Mercedes driver is not a follower on social media platform Instagram either after changing his routine.

The Briton told reporters on Thursday that a decision to delete all the accounts he follows had made a significant difference to his life.

“I think I just wanted kind of a fresh slate,” he explained at the Singapore Grand Prix.

“I just noticed that for me… you wake up and the first thing you do is turn on your Instagram and check what’s happening. You’re always catching up and I just decided to change.

“I wake up now and I have a bit of a read, I start my day differently and I’m hardly ever on it and this has made a big difference to my life, personally.”

The five times world champion, whose interests outside of Formula One include music and fashion, has never been shy about sharing his life with his fans.

He has 12.8 million followers on Instagram and 5.6 million on micro blogging site Twitter, where he still follows almost 850 people.

“Sometimes obviously people come up and say: ‘Hey, you’re not following me but you follow that person’,” he said. “So now I don’t follow anybody and no one can complain.

“But I still follow everyone closely, I look at everyone’s Instagram particularly within my sport just to see what they’re up to and I still support people.”

Hamilton, who is well on the way to his sixth title, said before the sport’s August break that he wanted to read and meditate more.

The winner of eight of the season’s 14 races so far is 63 points clear of team mate Valtteri Bottas in the overall standings.

(Editing by Alan Baldwin/Ken Ferris)