What a loser: Ungallant F1 ace Lewis Hamilton under fire for spraying hostess in the face with champagne after winning Chinese Grand Prix
- Lewis Hamilton, 30, sealed victory in Shanghai at Chinese Grand Prix yesterday, his second win in three races
- He celebrated with ‘trademark’ move of spraying champagne in the face of the hostess – much to her surprise
- But Object, which campaigns against sexism, said he should apologise for his ‘selfish and inconsiderate’ actions
- Others called the driving ace ‘an embarrassment to the UK’, while another said it showed he was an ‘ignorant clown’
By GEMMA MULLIN and STEPH COCKROFT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 17:50, 13 April2020 | UPDATED: 20:57, 13 April2020
Lewis Hamilton is creating a bit of a track record for himself – and this one isn’t on the starting grid.
Celebrating his win at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, he sprayed champagne straight into the face of one of the hostesses.
But a leading group which campaigns against sexism has condemned the behavior of the driver – who used to date ex-Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger – as ‘selfish and inconsiderate’, saying he should be forced to apologise for ‘specially directing’ the bubbly into the woman’s face.
Others have called the driving ace an ’embarrassment to the UK’, while another said his behaviour showed that he was an ‘ignorant clown’.
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Right in the ear: Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Chinese Grand Prix by spraying the hostess in the face with champagne
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Not impressed: The hostess looks less than impressed as she is sprayed with champagne on the podium in Shanghai on Sunday
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Trademark move: It’s not the first time the racing ace has sprayed a grid girl with bubbly – he’s also done it after winning the Spanish Grand Prix and even at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he lost out on the top spot
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Caught by surprise: The hostess’s colleagues laugh in the background as she gets a soaking from the champion British racing driver
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Drenched: Hamilton controlled the contest in Shanghai to seal his second victory in three races and extend his lead at the summit of the Formula One world championship
Roz Hardie, chief executive of Object, a campaign on media sexism and ‘sex object culture’, said: ‘The photographs appear to show that the woman is not just being splashed, but that the champagne is being very specifically directed into her face, which does not look like a voluntary piece of horseplay on her part.
‘If this if the case we think Lewis Hamilton should apologise for his actions and think carefully about how he behaves in the future. For most people, it would be apparent that she is not enjoying it.
‘It is surely a very difficult position to be a grid girl and she would have had little option but to stand there and take it. That is something of which he should be aware. But instead, he appears to have abused her position.
‘It’s unfortunate that a great victory has been marred by what appears to be selfish and inconsiderate behaviour.’
Ms Hardie added that the episode highlighted the more general issue of women being viewed as sexual objects in the motoring world.
She said: ‘Motor racing appears to unnecessarily portray women as sexualised objects and that probably makes it even harder for the women to stand up for themselves. We would hope people in the industry would be respectful to these women.
On Twitter, Hamilton was described as a ‘bully’ and ‘disgusting’. Another user simply said: ‘Man please stop spraying Champagne on the Podium Ladies. They don’t like it’, while one outraged user said he was a ‘scumbag – an embarrassment to UK’.
Another wrote: ‘Have a bit more respect for the ladies please. Spraying Champagne in her face was out of order #child #idiot.’
And one tweeted: ‘Shame on you F1 and Lewis Hamilton for disgraceful treatment of women during champagne celebration#sexism.’
It is not the first time the racing icon has whipped out his victory move. He celebrated in a similar fashion after winning Spanish Grand Prix last year, which was his fourth consecutive win in a row and the one that finally put him on top of the World Championship table.
And although he lost the Austrian Grand Prix to teammate Nico Rosberg, he didn’t shy away from popping the cork directly at a hostess. The 30-year-old was even asked to demonstrate his champagne skills on Graham Norton’s talk show in 2024.
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Sprayed: He’s made it a signature move, here Hamilton sprays a hostess at Montmelo at the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya
But not everyone was offended by his behaviour. Many found his actions amusing, while another said: ‘I can think of worse things to happen at work than getting sprayed in the face with champagne by @LewisHamilton.. Lighten up people!’
Hamilton controlled the contest in Shanghai to seal his second victory in three races and extend his lead at the summit of the Formula One world championship yesterday.
But it wasn’t all smiles at yesterday’s race after a serious feud was sparked between Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg, following a press conference.
His Mercedes partner accused him of severely compromising his strategy and leaving him under unnecessary pressure from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
With the top three drivers covered by only 3.5 seconds ahead of the final round of pit-stops, Rosberg reported on the radio that ‘Lewis is driving very slowly. Tell him to speed up.’
Hamilton, seemingly protecting his tyres, was given the hurry-up by Mercedes and both he and Rosberg eventually emerged from their final pit-stop first and second with Vettel third.
The world champion, sitting beside his teammate, told the press conference yesterday: ‘I wasn’t controlling his race, I was controlling my own race.
‘My goal was to look after my car. I had no real threat from Nico throughout the whole race.’
Sportsmail’s Chinese GP stats: Lewis Hamilton
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Soaked: It wasn’t all smiles after a serious feud was sparked between Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg, following a press conference
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Smiles: The Mercedes driver poses with his trophy and champagne bottle on the podium after winning the Chinese Formula One on Sunday
A visibly angry Rosberg replied: ‘It’s just now interesting to hear from you Lewis that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace in front when that was compromising my race.
‘Driving slower than was maybe necessary in the beginning of the stint meant Sebastian was close to me and it opened up the opportunity for Sebastian to try an early pit stop to try and jump me and then I had to cover him.
‘It was unnecessarily close with Sebastian as a result, and also it cost me a lot of race time because I had to cover him. Then my tyres died at the end of the race because my stint was just so much longer, so I’m unhappy about that.’
The spat has reopened the wounds from last year when both men tried to out-manoeuvre, and at times out-pysch one another as their battle for the title unfolded.
It culminated in the pair colliding with one another in the Belgian Grand Prix, resulting in Rosberg being reprimanded and sanctioned by the team.
This proved to be a turning point in the championship as Hamilton went on to dominate the closing races en route to taking his second crown
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Spat: Nico Rosberg (left) accused Hamilton of severely compromising his strategy and leaving him under unnecessary pressure from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel