Lewis Hamilton will probably just want to forget his Australian Grand Prix weekend.
First of all, he got nicked by the rozzers on Friday for ‘improper use of a motor vehicle’ after they saw him wheel-spinning his Mercedes-Benz road car, which was then promptly impounded.
He was then outclassed by McLaren team mate Jenson Button in both qualifying and the race itself, Hamilton ending up in sixth place and clearly frustrated. Afterwards, he decided to publicly criticise the team’s tactics. Realising that was never going to make him very popular, Hamilton has since done some diplomatic back-peddling to smooth things over, saying he now ‘understands’ the decision to bring him in for a second pit stop.
But the icing on the cake has been the comments made by Tim Pallas, the Minister for Roads and Ports in the Australian state of Victoria. Launching his ‘Don’t Be A Dickhead’ road safety campaign on Monday, the day after the Grand Prix, Pallas was asked whether Hamilton would fit into that category. Pallas admitted, "OK, I'll say it. He's a dickhead" before going onto claim that Hamilton’s actions had “put people’s lives at risk”. Really?
Aussie driver Mark Webber swiftly came to Hamilton’s defence, saying his country had become a “nanny state” with ridiculous driving rules. Pallas thought Webber irresponsible for making those remarks, but confirmed he definitely isn’t another dickhead.
Perhaps the real dickheads in the Hamilton ‘improper use’ saga were the two McLaren flunkies who tried to shield both Hamilton and his Mercedes-Benz from being filmed after the police stop. One of these guys seemed to believe he could achieve that by holding open his brown jacket, without looking like a total prat. The irony is he’ll probably be strung up for daring to wear a non-regulation piece of clothing with his McLaren uniform. Rumour is the team’s very strict on that sort of thing.
