London (AFP)

Six-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he was "misinterpreted" after sharing a video on Instagram that appeared to accuse Bill Gates of lies about the novel coronavirus vaccines.

"I want to clarify my thoughts because I understand why they may have been misinterpreted," Lewis Hamilton wrote on Instagram Monday evening, after deleting from his account the sharing of a video appearing to accuse the Microsoft founder and philanthropist of lies .

The video, originally posted on the social network by American actor King Bach, is a 13-minute interview with Bill Gates on CBS about coronavirus vaccines, which research is underway, and in particular on their possible effects. secondary. The philanthropist has invested more than $ 250 million (EUR 213 million) in the fight against the virus.

This video is accompanied by a comment from King Bach to his nearly 20 million Instagram followers: "I remember when I told my first lie".

"I had not seen the comment attached, it is totally my fault and I have a lot of respect for the philanthropic work accomplished by Bill Gates", defended Lewis Hamilton, who has meanwhile 18.3 million of subscribers on the social network.

"I also want to be clear that I am not anti-vaccine, and that I have no doubts that this will be important in the fight against the coronavirus, and I am hopeful about its development to save lives, ”added the Mercedes driver, in search of a seventh world title this season.

However, Hamilton added that the Bill Gates interview showed "that there (was) still a lot of uncertainty about the side effects (of a vaccine) and how it would be funded."

Last week, Bill Gates had to defend himself from conspiracy theories accusing him of being the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

A video saying the billionaire wanted to "wipe out 15% of the population" through vaccination and microchips has been viewed millions of times on YouTube.

"It's a bad combination of pandemic, social media and people looking for simple explanations," he said in an interview with CNN.

© 2020 AFP