NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • Generate wealth weekly
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

Motorsport: Lewis Hamilton's life in the fast lame

By Charlie Eccleshare
Daily Telegraph UK·
26 Mar, 2016 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
"You would be really proud if you knew how much I consumed," said Lewis Hamilton recently. Photo / Getty Images

"You would be really proud if you knew how much I consumed," said Lewis Hamilton recently. Photo / Getty Images

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Attempts by F1 champion Hamilton to portray himself as a party animal make him look silly and immature.

Lewis Hamilton eh? What will he get up to next? Last week, Hamilton made headlines for all the wrong reasons once again as he caused a stir by taking a selfie while riding a motorcycle in New Zealand.

This follows previous misdemeanours including having his driving licence suspended for speeding in 2007 and last November colliding with three parked cars while driving in Monaco.

All this controversy has led F1 luminaries such as David Coulthard and Sir Jackie Stewart to advise Hamilton to focus more on his day job and less on his party lifestyle.

Coulthard and Stewart are right that Hamilton needs to show more focus, and I wouldn't wish to undermine the seriousness of his law-breaking activities.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But let's get something straight: Hamilton is not the 'party boy' he thinks he is.

To me, he is instead living proof that you can have all the sporting success, the looks, the fame, the most expensive clothes and cars, the beautiful celebrity girlfriend and yet still be fundamentally lame.

He's like Ben Stiller in that episode of Extras, listing the women he's kissed in films and bewildered it doesn't make people think he's cool.

Consider Hamilton's own description of his 'party' lifestyle from November 2015. "Until last year, I didn't really drink a lot. It's changed a lot this year," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You would be really proud if you knew how much I consumed.

"The next couple of months is party time. I've got my mum's 60th coming up, I've got friends' events coming up, I've got more races to win, we've got the team end-of-year party, we've got Stars and Cars [a Mercedes event in Stuttgart].

"Jeez, man, I've got to get some good sleep because there's going to be a lot of partying."

He actually said all that.

Discover more

Formula 1

Alonso lucky to be alive after horror crash

19 Mar 08:46 AM
Sport|motorsport

Motorsport: Rosberg escapes carnage

20 Mar 04:00 PM
Formula 1

Five things we learned from the Australian Grand Prix

20 Mar 07:00 PM
Formula 1

Mercedes genuinely concerned about Ferrari pace

20 Mar 08:40 PM

It's difficult to know where to start with what Hamilton is saying here, but first of all, he's cited his mum's 60th and work Christmas do as evidence of his party lifestyle.

What's perhaps more telling, though, is the line, 'You would be really proud if you knew how much I consumed'.

Would we? Who does Hamilton think he's speaking to? A bunch of sixth formers who have just bought a litre of vodka with a fake ID?

It's almost as if a self-imposed tax exile millionaire with a nauseating transatlantic accent who lives in Monte Carlo has no conception of what impresses the average person on the street.

Exhibit B comes from last year's Brit Awards when Hamilton painfully attempted 'bants' with Ellie Goulding and succeeded only in completely silencing the 20,000-strong crowd at the O2 by ribbing the singer about her dress.

We can only hope Hamilton restored some pride with the copious amount of booze he presumably consumed at the event's after-party.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Lewis Hamilton's Auckland Motorway selfie attracted negative publicity.
Lewis Hamilton's Auckland Motorway selfie attracted negative publicity.

This is also a man who once said, "maybe it's because I'm black that's what Ali G says, I don't know," when asked in 2011 why he comes in for so much criticism.

To be fair, Hamilton did at least admit afterwards that, "it was a bit of a joke, which wasn't funny at the time. It's very intense at the end of those kind of races. You don't always say the right thing. I was trying to be funny, but it wasn't funny."

He could have added that Ali G impressions haven't been funny since around the turn of the millennium, if ever.

If this all seems unnecessarily harsh, that's because it probably is. But there is a serious-ish message here. Hamilton is not a George Best or Stan Bowles, or any of those colourful characters from the past who genuinely couldn't resist the party lifestyle, and nor should he necessarily want to be.

The driver really should not give a tinker's toss what the public think of him, and maybe he doesn't and it's clever PR, but he seems genuinely needy and desirous of public adoration, certainly if his social media activity is anything to go by.

Well, if you're interested, Lewis, I doubt many are impressed by your claims of heavy drinking or taking selfies while driving.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Continued sporting success is more likely to impress the majority, and do you know what would really win many of us over? Not dating Nicole Scherzinger, not Instagram shots of you posing with various celebrities, not even drinking heavily at your mum's 60th.

It would be moving back to the UK and paying your taxes. That's the kind of party most of us could get on board with.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
All Blacks
|Updated

Where does Eden Park victory sit in rankings of every ABs v Boks test ever played?

Premium
OpinionLiam Napier

Liam Napier: What Springboks selections tell us about Rassie's thinking

Sport

'He's a legend': McCaw's presence noted as All Blacks prepare for Springboks


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Premium
Where does Eden Park victory sit in rankings of every ABs v Boks test ever played?
All Blacks
|Updated

Where does Eden Park victory sit in rankings of every ABs v Boks test ever played?

Ranking all 108 test matches played between the All Blacks and the Springboks.

09 Sep 05:17 AM
Premium
Premium
Liam Napier: What Springboks selections tell us about Rassie's thinking
Liam Napier
OpinionLiam Napier

Liam Napier: What Springboks selections tell us about Rassie's thinking

09 Sep 05:05 AM
'He's a legend': McCaw's presence noted as All Blacks prepare for Springboks
Sport

'He's a legend': McCaw's presence noted as All Blacks prepare for Springboks

09 Sep 03:54 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP