Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton was stopped by police today only hours after he had wowed a Melbourne crowd with the fastest lap in Australian Grand Prix practice.
The McLaren driver, who in 2008 became Formula One's youngest ever world champion, found himself having to make a public apology about his behaviour in Australia for the second year in a row.
"This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police," the Briton (25) said in a McLaren statement. "What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it."
Senior police constable Scott Woodford said a 25-year-old male, resident in Switzerland, was stopped at 9.15pm in the St Kilda neighbourhood at the wheel of a brand new Mercedes.
He said the car, which had "accelerated heavily and lost traction to the rear wheels" in making a turn, had been impounded and was due to be released on Monday.
"He's expected to be charged on summons with the offence of improper use of a motor vehicle," said Mr Woodford, who added that Hamilton had a male passenger in the car with him at the time.
"It's fair to say that he was disappointed with the whole incident, but I must say he was extremely co-operative throughout."
A year ago, the driver was forced to issue a far more humiliating apology after he was found to have "deliberately misled" race stewards after the season-opening race in Melbourne.
Reuters