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[darwin dali]

ESPNF1:
SUZUKA, Japan -- Lewis Hamilton decided not to take journalists questions in his usual post-qualifying press conference, saying he felt the reporting of his use of Snapchat in Thursday's FIA press conference was "disrespectful".

The reigning champion was criticised by some sections of the media two days ago for using the Snapchat app on his phone during Thursday's press conference. He posted a video of himself and fellow drivers with filters of cartoon animals laid over their faces, along with the caption "This s--- is killing me".

He later posted on Twitter saying his use of Snapchat was meant to be "fun" and "not at all disrespectful".

Mercedes' drivers do not have Friday media sessions with the written press so his Saturday press conference was the next time he faced the same journalists. Sitting in front of a packed room in Mercedes' hospitality, Hamilton deliberated for a small amount of time before one journalist asked if he had something on his mind.

"Yeah, I do and the smiles on your faces will probably be no longer," he replied. "I'm not actually here to answer your questions, I've decided.

"With the utmost respect -- there are many of you here that are super supportive of me and those of you [that are] hopefully know that I know who they are -- but there are others, unfortunately, that often take advantage of certain things. The other day was a super lighthearted thing and if you thought that I was disrespectful, it was honestly not the intention -- it was a little bit of fun.

"But what was more disrespectful was what was then written worldwide and I'm just kind of in a position where -- unfortunately there are some people here and it's not them that have done it -- unfortunately the decision I will take affects those that are super supportive, so that's why I say with the utmost respect, but I don't really plan on sitting at many more times for these kinds of things. So, my apologies, and I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend."

Once he'd finished his statement, Hamilton calmly walked out of the room.


He reminds me a bit of Donald Trump. In the words of Bill Maher (about DJT): "A whiny little bitch"

[darwin dali]

ESPNF1:

The various controversies of Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is F1's most marketable driver, but also the sport's most polarising. The three-time world champion has attracted as much attention away from the circuit as he has for his masterful and controversial drives on it, and has once again found himself at odds with portions of the media during this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.

ESPN looks at some of the reigning world champion's most notable off-track controversies since his debut in 2007.

Licence suspended

A month after narrowly missing out on winning the world championship in his stunning rookie season, Hamilton was clocked travelling 121 mp/h in the north of France. Having pulled him over, police reported Hamilton being "very polite and co-operative". The Englishman had his licence suspended for a month.

Misleading the stewards in Australia

Hamilton's first title defence started on a sour note in 2009. He had seemingly managed to haul McLaren's uncompetitive challenger to a podium at the season-opener in Melbourne, but became embroiled in controversy for what happened in the final laps. Running fourth under a late Safety Car, Jarno Trulli slid off the road and was passed (legally) by Hamilton for third. Hamilton duly slowed on the following lap to let Trulli back past under the Safety Car to reclaim third position, something McLaren had advised him to do.

However, when speaking to the media after the race, he told them he had received no instruction to let Trulli past, insinuating the Italian had passed him illegally. The Toyota driver was duly demoted to 12th. The case was reopened at the next race in Malaysia where Hamilton, under the advice of team manager Dave Ryan, continued to insist he had not been told to let Trulli past. McLaren's radio communications proved otherwise.

Hamilton was disqualified from the race, Ryan was sacked and McLaren was handed a suspended three-race ban for being "deliberately misleading". Hamilton felt obliged to face the media and apologise to his fans for being misled by Ryan.

"Hooning" in 2010

Again in Australia, Hamilton was pulled over for doing burnouts in his Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 in Melbourne as he left the circuit. His driving contravened Victoria's "anti-hoon" laws and he was eventually fined £288.

The paltry fine angered local road safety campaigners, with one local politician, Tim Pallas, calling Hamilton "a d---head". Hamilton later apologised, saying his driving had been "silly" and "over-exuberant".

Ali G joke backfires

If ever there was a season Hamilton will want to forget, it's 2011. Erratic and apparently driving a car with a magnetic attraction to Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado, his McLaren never seemed far away from drama. After incidents with both at Monaco -- which led to two different time penalties -- Hamilton vented his anger about the stewards post-race.

However, the manner he chose to do so was clumsy, invoking the catchphrase of Ali G, the original spoof character of Borat creator Sascha Baron Cohen. Asked why he felt the stewards had called him to see them five times in six races, Hamilton laughed awkwardly and told the BBC: "Maybe it's because I'm black, I don't know. That's what Ali G says..."

It was clearly a joke, but an ill-advised one, and one which was further lost in translation once reported or written down. It led to another trip to the stewards to explain his actions, though he avoided further punishment.

Releasing telemetry

Hamilton is a keen social media advocate these days, but his Twitter account got him into big trouble during the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Having qualified eighth while Jenson Button claimed pole, Hamilton blamed his decision to use a different rear wing to his teammate. Tweeting a picture of the telemetry comparing their lap times, Hamilton was attempting to show that his rear wing was costing him too much time on the straights.

Though he soon took down the tweet at the request of the team, the telemetry also revealed sensitive McLaren data, such as ride heights as well as braking and acceleration rates. McLaren did not discipline Hamilton. Meanwhile, a "disappointed" Button pointed out the rear wing should have helped Hamilton make up for the straight-line deficit through Spa's corners...

Spraying grid girl

One of the sillier controversies Hamilton has been embroiled in, but one which still gained media attention. Having won the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix Hamilton, like many other winners before him, sprayed all those around him on the podium -- including Liu Siying, a grid girl standing to his right.

The move led to criticism from anti-sexism group Object, even though Siyung later told local media she had no problem with Hamilton's actions. It was a storm in a teacup. Hamilton later said: "I would never ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that."

Monaco car crash, 2015

Hamilton claimed the title with three races to spare in October 2015 by winning the U.S Grand Prix. A week and a half later, in the early hours of the Tuesday before that weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton lost control of his £1.5 million Pagani Zonda and crashed it into three parked cars. Alcohol was not involved -- Hamilton was breathalysed and tested negative -- and a police spokesperson said Hamilton's "foot slipped on the brake and clutch pedals".

Upon arrival in Brazil two days later for its grand prix, Hamilton said a lack of sleep after "heavy partying" and a fever had led to the "light contact" with the parked cars. He also posted to social media: "Whilst ultimately, it is nobody's business, there are people knowing my position that will try to take advantage of the situation and make a quick buck. NO problem."

Hamilton may have brushed the incident off at the time, but the distracted world champion lost the next race to Nico Rosberg -- the second of Rosberg's run of seven in a row. Hamilton, by contrast, did not win again until the following May's Monaco Grand Prix.

Motorbike selfie

Just days before the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton was investigated by New Zealand police for recording himself while riding a Harley Davidson on the motorway. The video was posted to his Snapchat app and seemed to contravene New Zealand law prohibiting the use of a mobile phone while driving, which had existed since 2009.

Though Hamilton escaped further action due to lack of "sufficient evidence", local police warned him about the dangers of using a phone while driving a vehicle.

Criticism from PETA

Hamilton, a self-confessed animal lover, spent his summer a little differently to the average driver -- posting pictures of himself with endangered tigers on social media. He had been visiting the Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation in Mexico, and his pictures included posing next to a white tiger and a video of a tiger sneaking up on him and play fighting, nibbling his hat.

The video caught the attention of animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA), whose director Elisa Allen released a statement saying: "Seeing big cats used for photo ops promotes the idea that wild animals are here for human amusement and to do with as humans please, rather than to be left in peace in their own habitat...

"Unless big cats are kept on tranquilisers, they're quite capable of becoming annoyed with him and taking a chunk out of more than his cap. Ask any victim of a tiger or lion mauling or the relatives of those who didn't survive one, they'll assure Lewis that cuddling exotic animals is a far more foolish move than tangling with Nico Rosberg."

From Snapchat to no chat

Hamilton's latest controversy started pretty innocuously -- the world champion earning the ire of some of the UK's Fleet Street media for playing on his phone during the Thursday press conference ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. During the conference he had posted photos of himself and the unsuspecting Carlos Sainz to Snapchat with the caption "This s--- is killing me" -- though he later explained he had been having fun and that is problem was with the format of the press conference, rather than the media.

The incident would likely have passed by without much further attention had Hamilton not raised the subject again two days later. On Saturday, having seen Nico Rosberg beat him to pole position by just 0.013s, Hamilton made a statement about in his media print session -- which included the journalists who, he felt, had been "disrespectful" in their criticism of his Snapchat use -- and said he would not be answering any questions, before calmly walking out.

[Stephen]

Yeah, saw this - I like Lewis but, having seen the Snapchat footage and both press conferences, he has made himself look rather immature. He's a F1 driver who gets over a £1M per race - not a twelve year old girl who has just got a phone.

I wish he would just focus on the championship.

[overboost]

Some of Hamilton's creations from the press conference:



I bet the Merc board in Stuttgart loves this sort of thing!

[sagi58]

I appreciate a good "joke"! I appreciate being able to make fun of yourself!
And, I appreciate that social media is a big part of our lives, today...
BUT, there is a time and a place for everything. A (public) press conference
isn't the best time to be busy on your phone poking fun at the format and
then saying it was killing you. Aside from being disrespectful to those present
whose job it is to report on the event, it is also disrespectful to the others whose
job it is to participate in the press conference.

Sometimes getting older doesn't equate to maturity.