Apr.14 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has ruffled feathers for more than one reason over the last few days.
On Sunday, he enraged Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for allegedly “compromising” the German’s race strategy by driving too slowly in the lead.
Then, on the podium, a photographer captured the moment when Briton Hamilton, the reigning world champion, celebrated by squirting champagne in the face of a cringing Chinese grid girl.
“We would hope people in the industry would be respectful to these women,” the chief of an anti-sexism group told the Daily Mail.
Finally, Hamilton then broke protocol by counting himself out of the running for the 2015 Laureus World Sports Award, despite being nominated.
Ahead of the actual ceremony that will take place on Wednesday night, Laureus chairman Edwin Moses – a guest of Laureus sponsor Mercedes – attended the Chinese grand prix and even appeared on the podium.
But Hamilton has already revealed that, among fellow nominees Cristiano Ronaldo, Novak Djokovic, Marc Marquez and others, he is not going to be the winner.
“Unfortunately I’m not too excited,” said the 30-year-old Briton, “because I know I haven’t won it.
“I’ll keep pushing so that at some stage I do get it.”