Lewis Hamilton has already started the 2024 F1 season in his final year as a Mercedes driver, but he is still on a mission to inspire fans around the world.
While fans were shocked then, Hamilton caused even more ripples when with Mercedes he returned to the home land of title sponsor Petronas ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
With a beaming smile in a picture captioned by Mercedes as 'back home in Malaysia', Hamilton posed alongside school children for a huge assembly photo, while also visiting class rooms to take questions from students and even engage in fiery scientific experiments.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 16, 2024
One fan on Instagram was shocked by his sudden appearance saying: "Why we don’t have announcement about Lewis coming to Malaysia. So bad to miss him when he’s still in the team," while another added: "Imagine the students that didn't go to school that day."
Others heaped praise on Hamilton though for his work in helping Petronas's mission in raising awareness over STEM, biodiversity and sustainable futures.
One said: Lewis always sets a very good example in every respect for all of us while another praised Hamilton as well as the Mercedes team, saying: Congratulations Mercedes and Lewis.for the beautiful work, and for us providing these experiences, and for us encouraging them to participate in social actions. A very important work for our nations and the adversities in all countries... very important... if everyone does a little, our world will be better.