British F1 star Lewis Hamilton was caught on camera spraying Russian President Putin with champagne following his win in the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. The enthusiastic star, by now well-known for his F1 antics, accidentally doused the back of President Putin's jacket when Hamilton grabbed a bottle for his signature celebration effervescence.
CNN reports that social media immediately lit up with images of President Putin and Hamilton replete with jokes of the incident, making the tough 68-year old President Putin the butt of many online quips. Hamilton's well-documented history of faux pas includes accidentally spraying a Chinese woman in the face with champagne after his win in the Shanghai race. He summarily apologised to the unfortunate fan. His latest mishap with President Putin, however, has certainly upped the bar for Hamilton.
The incident brought a very welcome raise in global attention to the event and to the $330-million Sochi Autodrom, which is part of the $50 billion renovation project of the Black Sea resort. President Putin has high hopes for Sochi to become an international business and holiday go-to.
For his part, Hamilton is a happy ambassador for the grand prix as he declares being proud to be in Russia. He encourages a visit by all viewers and fans who have never been to Russia.
The Mercedes star is now on his ninth win out of the 15 races of this season and is 66 points clear of Vettel in the championship standing.
The race has been declared a truly dramatic season by the Russians in the Sochi circuit's official website with 350 journalists around the world covering the event. Almost 150,000 fans were in attendance for the three days of the race, including an audience of 62,000 who witnessed the race in Sochi's Olympic Park. Around 1,200 volunteers from 17 countries and 300 employees of Sochi Autodrom's Medical Service assisted in the event.
