In a spin: Lewis Hamilton faces a fine after being stopped by Melbourne policeLewis Hamilton was stopped by police in Melbourne on Friday for driving like a boy racer ahead of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Britain’s 25-year-old former world champion skidded and burned the tyres of his silver Mercedes in front of a Victoria police van at 9.15pm local time near the Albert Park track in the St Kilda area of the city.
Hamilton, who will be fined, was said to be upset as his hire car was towed away. A statement issued on his behalf said: ‘This evening I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police. What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it.’
The indiscretion came just hours after he set the fastest time in practice for the grand prix - and one year after he was disqualified from the same race for ‘deliberately misleading’ race stewards over an overtaking incident. He had arrived back in Melbourne determined to clean up his image
It is understood he passed a breath test and was not detained overnight, instead returning to his hotel room to sleep ahead of qualifying today. Police constable Scott Woodford said: ‘It would be fair to say he was fairly disappointed.’
It is understood Hamilton performed tyre-smoking ‘burnouts’ and ‘fishtails’, otherwise known in Australia as ‘hooning’, a form of anti-social driving which police have outlawed.
Fast lane: Hamilton was second fastest at Albert Park in Friday's practice sessionA Victoria police spokesman said: ‘The vehicle was seen to deliberately lose traction and was intercepted by police. The driver, a 25-year-old man who resides in Switzerland, was spoken to at the scene and is expected to be charged on summons with improper use of a vehicle.
‘The vehicle, a 2010 Mercedes, was impounded for 48 hours and the driver assisted back to his hotel.’
Another witness claimed Hamilton tried to hide from onlookers, saying: ‘He had his head between his legs. He looked like he was thinking, “Oh my God, what the hell!”’
Hamilton, who answered questions in the back of an unmarked police car, is likely to face a fine for the ‘improper use of a vehicle’ charge
Police probe: Hamilton will faces charges after his Mercedes car was impoundedThe incident comes less than three years after his car was impounded in France when he was caught speeding at 121mph.
McLaren last night refused to say with whom Hamilton was travelling at the time.The embarrassment follows his decision to drop his father Anthony - his controlling influence - as his manager.
When contacted, Anthony admitted he was ‘stunned’ at the news, although he declined to comment any further until he had spoken directly with his son.
source :dailymail
