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The online sportsbook Betway has been forced to take down a paid-for Facebook ad which included a likeness of Sir Lewis Hamilton and two other F1 drivers in the video.
It dates back to July 4, 2025, which was the beginning of the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, and the two other British Formula 1 drivers’ likeness were also used for the advertisement.
The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK say the issue stemmed from the complainant being challenged whether the ad included an individual who was likely to be of strong appeal to under-18s and therefore breached the code.
The ad had a heading which states “WHO’S THE BEST OF THE BRITS?” and the middle driver wore a red uniform with the name ‘HAMILTON’ across the back, while the other two drivers were wearing uniforms without names.
“The ad must not appear again in its current form,” ASA said about Betway ad
In response to the complaint, it’s explained how Betway didn’t dispute that Hamilton was likely to be of strong appeal to under 18s, however, they said the way he was presented in the ad would have limited any appeal.
“They acknowledged that the image was meant to represent Sir Lewis Hamilton, but that it was not actually an image of him. They believed his appearance and positioning in the ad successfully limited the appeal to under 18s,” ASA explained.
According to the regulator, the operator said they intentionally refrained from showing Hamilton’s face or a frontal view, instead opting for a back-of-head shot to lessen the appeal to under 18s and make the image less relatable.
Betway also provided data to the seven-time world champion’s social media following, with this showing that the driver has 1.6 million under-18 followers out of a total of 39.7 million on Instagram, and 92,400 under-18 followers out of a total of 1.4 million on TikTok. When the ad ran, the operator said it was for a limited time and included control settings which sought to target users aged over 25 years.
The action from ASA is that the ad must not appear again in its current form. “We told Betway Ltd t/a Betway not to include a person or character who had strong appeal to those under 18 years of age,” the advertising authority said about the ruling.
Featured Image: CC 4.0 license, credit to Lukas Raich on Wikimedia Commons
