Hamilton under attack for spraying podium hostess
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton has come under attack for spraying champagne in the face of a podium hostess after claiming victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.
While the celebratory spraying of champagne on the F1 podium has been going on since 1967, it is traditionally only the drivers and the fans who find themselves in the line of fire.
Hamilton's decision to soak the hostess in a torrent of bubbly has been condemned by anti-sexism campaigners, who suggest it reinforces a wider culture of sexism in the sport of motor racing.
"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," Rox Hardie, the chief executive of anti-sexism group, Object, told the MailOnline.
"That is something of which he [Hamilton] should be aware. But instead, he appears to have abused her position.
"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."
Meanwhile, some fans of the sport took to social media to voice their disapproval.
Lewis Hamilton spraying champagne into the face of the hostess is a jerk move. She clearly wasn't expecting it nor thought it was funny.
— Courtney (@CourtneyHosking) April 13, 2015
@LewisHamilton great drive ruined by spraying that woman in the face, prat
— Simon Gunns (@BenGunns) April 13, 2015
I thought Formula One was a gentlemanly sport but that photo of Lewis Hamilton opening the champagne bottle onto a woman's head is so AWFUL.
— Megan Robinson (@threadnz) April 13, 2015
Hamilton is developing a habit of targeting the female assistants, having celebrated in a similar fashion after winning the Spanish Grand Prix last year, and even when he finished second at this season's Austrian Grand Prix.
The British driver leads the drivers championship with 68 points, 12 points ahead of 2013 champion Sebastian Vettel and 15 ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg.