Lewis Hamilton has effectively been parked in the pit lane of betting advertising after the UK’s ad watchdog slapped down a second campaign featuring the Formula 1 legend in just two months.
The latest ruling targets a paid-for Facebook spot from bookmaker Betway, published in early July. The clip showed three F1 drivers seen from behind, Union Jacks flying in the background, with the central figure in a red race suit clearly labelled “Hamilton” and the Betway logo on screen throughout. The caption hyped up the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and asked who would come out on top.
A complainant argued the ad breached gambling rules by featuring someone with “strong appeal” to under-18s. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) agreed, pointing to Hamilton’s status as a seven-time world champion, a British sporting icon and a high-profile role model for young fans, backed by millions of social media followers.
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Betway tried to defend the ad, insisting it wasn’t an actual image of Hamilton, that his face never appeared, that the campaign was aimed at over-25s and ran only for a short period. The ASA wasn’t buying it, ruling that kids would still instantly recognise the star and that Facebook cannot be treated as a closed, adults-only environment.
In October, a separate post from operator kwiff referencing Hamilton around the British Grand Prix was also banned on the same grounds. For UK bookies, the message couldn’t be clearer: if a sports star is as big as Hamilton, they’re now too hot to handle in mainstream gambling ads.
