Hamilton didn't intend any disrespect,
the young woman in question didn't feel disrespected.
Hopefully, that's
the end of it, eh?
Nate Saunders wrote:">
Lewis Hamilton bemused by Chinese grid girl controversyLewis Hamilton was bemused by controversy which arose in China around him spraying a grid girl with champagne during
the podium ceremony.
In
the days since his victory in Shanghai feminist group Object complained Hamilton had "abused"
the grid girl by dousing her with champagne. It labelled his behaviour "selfish and inconsiderate" and demanded an apology from
the world champion, despite
the fact Hamilton is not
the first F1 driver to have sprayed a grid girl or dignitary on a podium before.
When asked about it on Thursday in Bahrain, Hamilton seemed unfazed by
the whole issue.
"I hadn't really heard too much about it until today,"
he said. "Obviously when you arrive you get a debrief as to what has happened during
the week, so fortunately for me it has not overshadowed my week. Ultimately it was a great weekend, and generally my actions are through excitement. This is Formula One,
the pinnacle of motor sport 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."
The grid girl in question, Liu Siying, was quoted as saying she was not bothered by
the incident in local media since
the event.
"It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I did not think too much about it at all," she is quoted as saying by Shanghai Daily. "I think some foreign media are more sensitive about
the topic compared to local media. I was just told by my employer to stand on
the podium, and that's what I did."
Referring to those quotes, Hamilton added: "I don't really
knowthe reasons why people have brought those things up. This is a sport so many love, and
the more
we show character and fun it reflects how great this sport is, and that's what I try to do. It hasn't affected me, and it's nice to
knowthe lady kind of wrote in [to
the paper]. If she had wrote in and said she was really upset then perhaps I would be more concerned."