FEATURE
L
ewis Hamilton, once the darling of British
media has now attracted the full venom
of their wrath in the aftermath of the
Japanese Grand Prix weekend where the
world champion decided to go toe-to-toe with
journalists.
Hamilton began the weekend
by antogonising reporters of all
nationalities as he turned the
mandatory Thursday drivers’ press
conference in to a Snapchat giggle.
When his disrespectful behaviour was
reported by these media outlets, he went on
the offensive by cancelling scheduled media
briefings at Suzuka.
As a result the serious Fleet Street journals
and the yellow press tabloids have ganged up
on the Mercedes driver .
Kevin Eason, F1 correspondent for The
Times, wrote of the incident: “His overblown
reaction revealed a delicate ego and a fragile
mental state.”
“While Hamilton donned a tin hat and dug
his solitary trench after declaring war on the
world’s press, Rosberg kept himself to himself
as he has all season; head down and focus on
his mantra, he says. And it works.”
The Telegraph’s headline declared,
“Hamilton hits the self-destruct button.”
Their correspondent Daniel Johnson
writing that Mercedes “fear their lead driver
is in meltdown at one of the most critical
junctures of his career” while arguing that
Hamilton is cracking under pressure from his
team-mate who has won four of the last five
races and after Japan leads the championship
by 33 points.”