NUERBURGRING, Germany, (Reuters) – Formula One drivers should be allowed to emulate MotoGP riders and celebrate in front of the fans on the track after races, world champion Lewis Hamilton said yesterday.
The Briton delighted his home supporters at Silverstone last month when he performed several ‘doughnuts’, spinning the car in a wheel-smoking circle, after he finished well out of the points.
Although such manoeuvres are not allowed, the 24-year-old escaped punishment.
“Well, they couldn’t give me a penalty really could they?” he grinned, well aware his season so far has exceeded his worst fears with just nine points from eight races in a poorly performing car. Hamilton drew a comparison with MotoGP, where Italy’s world champion Valentino Rossi regularly entertains the crowd after his victories with a variety of cheeky stunts.
“Look at MotoGP, it is one of the most exciting races to watch because in the end they give even more back to the fans,” he told reporters in the Mercedes grandstand at the German Grand Prix.
“It was my home grand prix and they (the fans) have stood by me through thick and thin and I think it was incredible the support I had,” he said of Silverstone.
“Even at the end of the race they were still up supporting me and cheering me, even though it was a disastrous race really. It was great fun, you know.
“We do burn-outs and doughnuts all the time in demonstrations and things and the car will be fine,” he added. “As long as you treat it right and do it properly you won’t damage the car.
“I don’t think it was unsafe for anyone so why shouldn’t we be allowed to do it?”
Hamilton recalled how compatriot Nigel Mansell won the 1991 British Grand Prix, stopping on his victory lap to give Ayrton Senna a lift back to the pits after the late Brazilian’s car stopped out on the track.
“That was fantastic, that was awesome,” he said. “Not that I want to stop and get on the side of someone else, but it could be fun.”
