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It was just a bit of fun, says world champion
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WORLD champion Lewis Hamilton said he was just trying to show the fun side of Formula One when he sprayed champagne in the face of a Chinese Grand Prix podium hostess in Shanghai last weekend.
Sunday’s incident, captured in photographs that showed the woman flinching as the Mercedes driver aimed a stream of fizz at her, triggered condemnation from critics in Britain and Germany as well as on Chinese social media.
The woman played down what happened in an interview with Shanghai Daily on Wednesday and Hamilton said he was relieved to hear that.
“Ultimately it was a great weekend, and generally my actions are through excitement,” the Briton told reporters after arriving at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday.
“This is Formula One, it’s the pinnacle of motorsport and I’d just won a grand prix for the team. You should see it was a kind of a fun thing.
“I would never, ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that.”
Hamilton said it had not cast a shadow over his week because he had only just been briefed on the controversy, and he questioned why it had been brought up.
“This is a sport that so many people love, and the more we show character and fun it reflects just how great this sport is, and that’s what I try to do,” said the 30-year-old.
“It hasn’t affected me, and it’s nice to know that the lady kind of wrote in. If she had written in and said she was really unhappy then perhaps I would be more concerned.”
Liu Siying, a 23-year-old graduate of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, told Shanghai Daily that the incident “lasted for only one or two seconds, and I didn’t think too much about it.”
She added: “I think some foreign media are more sensitive about the topic than local media. I was just told by my employer to stand on the podium, and that’s what I did.”
Hamilton was speaking after newspapers in Britain condemned his behavior
The Daily Mail, a tabloid, said Hamilton had been “ungallant” while the Times newspaper asked in its leader column, below comment on the UK general election and the plight of migrants dying at sea off the North African coast, what the Briton had been thinking.
“They shake up champagne a lot in F1, of course, and as a regular winner Hamilton is practised in it. His die-hard fans have naturally accused his many Chinese critics of having a collective sense of humor failure,” the newspaper said.
“Well, we’ve had one too. Hamilton is a great driver but nothing gives him the right to behave like a hooligan. Not even winning.”
The practice of jubilant drivers spraying champagne on the podium has become a ritual dating back decades, even if some critics see it as uncouth while others shudder at the waste of good bubbly.
Race winners routinely spray everyone within sight, or who have not already retreated from the podium, as well as themselves.
Red Bull technical head Adrian Newey once even appeared on the podium wearing goggles to protect his eyes from the drenching that was to come.
There will be no champagne to spray in Bahrain this weekend, however, with the Middle East’s oldest grand prix offering bottles of non-alcoholic rosewater known as Waard instead.
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