Currently reading: F1's Hamilton faces police charge
McLaren driver has his road car impounded by police after "over-exuberant" driving

Lewis Hamilton faces a police charge after his Mercedes road car was impounded by Melbourne police on Thursday evening.

Hamilton is expected to be charged with improper use of a vehicle after what he described as "driving in an over-exuberant manner".

Hamilton tops Aus F1 practice

Talking after going fastest in free practice for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, he told the BBC: "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."

Police constable Scott Woodford reported Hamilton's rear wheels were skidding as he accelerated out of Albert Park, where the Grand Prix is held.

A Victoria police spokesman added: "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 returned to his hotel."

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Rover P6 3500S 28 March 2010

Re: F1's Hamilton faces police charge

moe360 wrote:
Rover whatever the rest is called, if you called me a Paki lets just say me and you would have to step outside and have a few words together :) , education is the key mate if your at university and still class that term as ok then god knows what they are teaching you mate

I'm not at university, I'm doing A-levels. I don't personally think the term Paki is acceptable, I know that it became associated with racial hatred, but I'm just confused, because every white person I know hates it and the few Pakistanis I know are fine about it and use it towards each other. Am I to assume that you're Pakistani yourself?

Rover P6 3500S 28 March 2010

Re: F1's Hamilton faces police charge

tannedbaldhead wrote:

Rover P6 3500S wrote:
I could never understand why the word Paki became utterly unacceptable - surely it's all in the way it's meant?

It is an unaccepable word because of the way it was meant most of the time it was used. Thus for the vast vast majority of people originating from the Indian Sub Continent it causes extreme offence.

I don't like the word "mick" because, as a child, the men calling me it had a nasty habit of following it with a word the began with the letter "b" and ended in astard. The fact that they tended to say it with a rifle pointed at either you, your parents or one of your mates at the time didn't help. If your Pakistani friends don't mind your use of that word they are being polite. If you want to be polite Paki is a word you do not use. It can get you into trouble with the Police (and quite rightly so) or if said in the wrong place it could get you a good kicking (perhaps not so rightly so).

I understand it was widely considered offensive, but, given that, whenever one of my Pakistani friends does something stupid, the others all say "you stupid bloody Paki", while laughing and patting him on the back and generally being affectionate, what is a naive, inexperienced young thing like me to think? I was once (falsely) accused at school (aged 13) of using it towards a Pakistani pupil, and my defence that, although I hadn't used it, I didn't understand why it was considered unacceptable, got me into deeper trouble than just having used the term would have done. I can understand also that you, as an Ulsterman, could have a problem with being called Mick - I don't need to tell you anything about the relationship between England and Ulster (or England and Eire, for that matter). How do you cope when someone is called Michael? Do any Ulstermen called Michael get abbreviated names? If so, is Mick ever used? And why was Mick used to refer to Ulstermen especially? Or is it just Catholics?

andrepaul999 27 March 2010

Re: F1's Hamilton faces police charge

nice publicity for merc amg no doubt

well done Lewis keep up the good work!